Author's Note: Here's one of the last updates I'm uploading before my break. I know I finished another break a short while ago, but something personal happened recently, so I'm getting used to the changes happening around my house. It's nothing bad, but it's gonna take some getting used to, so I just need a little time. Thank you for understanding.
So, back by popular demand, we are starting the next season of Lethal Job. Now, obviously, there's going to be some changes thanks to Reagan and Eddie being together, the Illuminati, and a couple of comments. I hope you all enjoy this start to the season which I put a lot of thought into.
Enjoy the chapter. Any and all comments are welcome.
As soon as he woke up, Eddie Brock stretched his arms out and yawned before realizing that Reagan wasn't by his side. He looked at the door which was ajar and caught a feint smell of alcohol in the air.
"Oh, shit." He sighed before picking up a phone. He dialed a number and waited until somebody answered. "Brett, it's Eddie. She's at it again. …Yeah, I'll meet you back at Cognito." He hung up before hearing Venom's voice in his head.
"Poor her."
Thankfully for Eddie, Reagan decided to walk to where she usually goes when she's drunk, so he was able to take her car and drive it to Cognito. As soon as he walked in, he grimaced at all the changes being made around the atrium where he waited for his friends. Rand Ridley banners were being hung, the guards wore red and yellow kimonos with pink flowers (like Rand usually wears), and sculptors were crafting a statue of a muscular Rand Ridley holding up a globe above him.
"This is just disgusting. How is everyone okay with this?"
"People are stupid, Venom." Eddie said just before noticing Brett and Reagan enter the atrium through the front entrance. While Brett wore his signature suit, Reagan was still wearing her bathrobe. "Brett. Reagan. Everything okay?"
"My dad erased my memories of my first friend and stole my job from me." Reagan reminded. "What do you think?"
"Sorry. Should have known better." Eddie apologized. "And hey, you're not the only one he effed over. He intentionally tricked me into being bonded with an alien symbiote."
"And I still remember the times he experimented on me back in the day. That man needs to go down."
"Listen, boys. My dad is an amoral sociopath." Reagan said. "Having him in charge will literally destroy the world."
"Yeah. He's installed a lot of security cameras in the women's bathrooms." Brett said.
As if on cue, an Easter Island woman exited the bathroom which had three cameras pointed inside each stall. She had the most ashamed look on her face as she said, "Rand Ridley is a dick!"
Just then, a drone with Rand's face on the screen flew over catching the woman saying that. "Shit talking detected." It was then followed by a giant vacuum tube which sucked the Easter Island woman in. The tube was headed for Shadow Prison X.
"This is nauseating me, and for breakfast, I had something called a Bud Light Lime-A-Rita." Reagan said. She reached into her coat to pull a green soda can from it.
"The refreshing Bud Light mist with a tropical lime twist?" Brett gasped excitedly.
"Yeah." Reagan answered before gulping the entire drink down her throat. When she was done, she held it to her boyfriend. "You want some, Eddie?"
Eddie looked in the can before answering. "Uh, I think you just drank it all."
Reagan sighed. "We have to do something about my dad."
"Well, whatever you decide, Reagan, I promise that I'll support you one-hundred percent." Eddie said.
"Thanks, sweetie." Reagan smile caressing his face.
"Except for some restrictions, you mean."
"Shut up, Venom." Eddie whispered aggressively.
"Don't worry, guys." Brett said. "I mean, Rand can't make things that different."
All of a sudden, Rand Ridley appeared in a colossal hologram in the middle of the atrium. Everyone stopped to turn their attention to him as he made his announcement.
"Listen up, peons. Everything's going to be different around here. I've carefully reviewed this year's agenda from the robes, and I don't give a shit! Why are we taking orders from mysterious robed assholes anyway? We don't even know who they are! From now on, we do what I say! Cognito is gonna reclaim its glory days!" For some reason, that got a loud applause of cheers from most of the employees. "Then Cognito's gonna reclaim its ex-wife, and its daughter, and its original, beautiful hairline!" The cheers were more confused, but still there.
"This is going to be the most globally damaging midlife crisis since Elon Musk." Reagan commented.
"Though, it would be more entertaining than Musk." Eddie added.
"Hey, into the war room, you three!" Rand commanded down to Brett, Reagan, and Eddie. That's when the bottom of his kimono opened revealing a sight that greatly disgusted everyone unfortunate enough to see it.
The trio held in their vomit just long enough to enter the war room. Unfortunately, most of their coworkers who were already there (with the absence of Myc) were equally as disgusted as soon as they saw Reagan's drunken state.
"Jesus! Is that Reagan?" Andre asked.
"I have never seen someone mistreat their body like this," Gigi said, "And I'm from Atlanta. We deep-fry iced tea."
"If poor Eddie's sleeping with that mess, I feel sorry for him." Glenn said.
"You guys know that I can hear you, right?" Reagan groaned taking her seat. "I'm drunk, not deaf."
"And for your information, Reagan was nowhere near this messy-looking when we made love last night." Eddie said earning him a glare from Reagan. "Oops. No offense."
Suddenly, Rand entered the room sitting on a throne carried by four random employees. "Greetings, hench-ployees. Now that J.R.'s finally rotting away in some shadow prison, the Ridley regime can officially begin! First up, my enemies list." He held out a scroll and unrolled it. It reached the ground plus five feet away from him. "It's long."
"Talk about being a dictator." Eddie commented.
"Only without the 'tator'."
"Are you guys really gonna sit here and take orders from my dad?" Reagan asked taking a stand on the table. "In a week, he's gonna have us assassinating Postmates drivers for getting his Taco Bell order wrong. The fate of the world is at stake."
"Hey, the Taco Bell thing is not a bad idea." Rand said. "Intern three, write that down. Intern four, assassinate intern three if he writes it down wrong."
Reagan proceeded by pulling out a blue folder. "I have been working hard plotting mutiny, but I can't do it alone. So who's with me?"
"You know I'm with you, Reagan." Eddie said standing with her.
"No, you're not. You think her 30-point plan is…"
"Shut up." Eddie grumbled quietly.
"Thanks, Eddie. I knew I could count on you." Reagan said. "What about the rest of you guys?! Who's with me?!"
There was an awkward moment of silence when all the other employees didn't say anything on Reagan's behalf. The moment was cut short when Myc entered the room excitedly.
"Did you guys see they replaced all the water coolers with vodka? Best day ever!" Myc laughed until he finally read the room. "Oh, my God. Are you trying to Jerry Maguire us right now? Hohoho! This must be so embarrassing for you!" He pulled out a phone and recorded Reagan and Eddie. "Okay, so she just realized that no one supports her except for her boyfriend, but obviously, he's just going along with it because they're sleeping together."
"Dude, that's not why I'm against Rand!" Eddie said. "Did you forget that he's refusing to give me an official salary?"
"You're lucky I'm letting you date my daughter, lab monkey." Rand said. "That's all the compensation you earn."
"Sorry, guys." Gigi said. "Having one evil white guy in charge versus another evil white guy? Not that different." Everyone else agreed, including Brett, who frowned shamefully as the heartbroken Reagan.
"Seriously, guys?" Eddie asked. "After everything we did for you, you won't help just because it's not your problem?"
"Oh, get off your high horse, slime puppet." Myc said. "You're only supporting Reagan's craziness because…"
"Because nothing!" Eddie interrupted.
"Did you really think you could launch a coup against me, sweetie?" Rand asked. "That's adorable. You're just like your old man."
"I am NOTHING like you!" Reagan shouted before a bunch of empty beer cans fell out of her bathrobe.
"So this is what rock bottom looks like." Myc said. "More tropical than I thought."
"Oh, who needs you assholes?" Eddie asked. "Ready for payback, Venom?"
"For 20 years!" Venom took Eddie's place and whipped out his claws ready for his revenge. He jumped over toward Rand who didn't flinch. "Yippee-kay-ay, motherfu…"
"Uh, uh, uh." Rand said pointing up. Venom looked and saw a large vacuum tube hovering over his head. "You didn't think I didn't see this coming, mudstain? I've got a killswitch in me. If I die, Cognito will automatically banish both you and your dumbass host to Shadow Prison X. And believe me, you do NOT want to go there."
"That's supposed to intimidate us? Reagan will just pull us back here once she's the head of Cognito again?"
"Assuming she even becomes head again." Rand said. "You forget, the new CEO must be chosen either by the previous CEO or the Robes. I'm not giving up my power no matter what, and I seriously doubt the Robes will appoint Reagan this soon after the whole robot copy fiasco. If you don't want to share a prison with the worst people in the world, I suggest keeping your fangs to yourself."
Venom growled before taking a heavy breath. He retreated back into Eddie's body. The ex-reporter looked back at Reagan. "Sorry."
"It's okay." Reagan said before glaring at everyone else. "At least someone tried!"
"Give my daughter a timeout. Somewhere she can get her head straight." Rand said to one of his throne carriers who grabbed Reagan by her arm and dragged her out of her office at taser-point. "Oh, and, uh, nothing higher than a three."
"Dick." Eddie said leaving to follow Reagan.
Eddie was about to catch up with Reagan, but something stopped him. As he reached halfway across the hallway, Venom shot himself out of Eddie's shoulder and reached out to a door to a broom closet. Eddie was forced to stopped before Venom opened the door and pulled Eddie inside. He then showed his eyes and teeth so he could talk to him face to face.
"What the hell, man?" Eddie asked.
"That's what I was going to ask. Why didn't you tell Reagan the truth?"
"What truth?"
"You know what truth. The part about you not being 100% supportive of her revenge campaign. Now, I don't like Rand either, but even I know that what you're thinking is better than what she wants to do."
"Okay, look. If I told Reagan what I actually thought of her revenge plan, she'd think I didn't have her back and I'd be just like everyone else in that conference room."
"You know you're just hurting yourself, right?"
"Hey, maybe I am more convicted to my idea than hers, but maybe I don't have the best judgement. You know about my time with Anne Weying?"
"Yes, Brock. I've seen your memories, and I know too much about your relationship with your ex."
"So you know why I have to do this."
Venom glared at Eddie before sighing heavily. "Fine."
"Thanks." Eddie said before leaving the closet. When he emerged, his girlfriend was right in front of him holding a piece of paper in her hand. "Oh, Reagan. You all right?"
"Emotionally, no. Physically, I did just get tased three times."
"So what are we going to do?" Eddie asked.
"For now, we can't do anything. Except maybe this stupid thing Brett just suggested to me."
Reagan showed Eddie the paper she was just given. Eddie took it and read the headline in confusion.
"Anonymous Anonymous?"
Eddie and Reagan sat in a circle of chairs aside other people. Most of them had their faces censored by blurs except for the head of the support group, Mothman.
"All right, everybody, and welcome to Anon-Anon. I think I see some new faces. Actually, let's switch off those Anony-collars. This is a safe space."
Everyone proceeded to press a button on their collars to reveal their faces, including Eddie and Reagan.
"I can't believe there's a support group for people who don't like working for the shadow government." Eddie said.
"You'd think everyone in the shadow government would be here." Reagan added.
Among the crowd, there was one man who noticed Reagan and Eddie. He wore a purple hooded robe with a golden triangle on it. He stared curiously as the meeting began.
"Let's go around the circle and share why we're here." Mothman said.
"Hey, everyone." One person greeted. It was none other than the famous forest yeti himself. "I'm Sasquatch."
"Hi, Sasquatch." Everyone greeted back.
"I feel like no one cares who I am anymore. I saw this kid in the woods the other day and he goes, 'Hey, Mom, it's Chewbacca'. Effing Chewbacca? He's not even real."
"Kids can be stupid sometimes."
"Didn't you make the same mistake when you first saw him?" Eddie asked.
"He doesn't need to know that."
It was the Slender Man's turn to speak. "Anyone I ever get close to goes insane. I think it was to do with my relationship with my mother."
"I'm former Governor Jesse Ventura," the old man in the tinfoil hat said, "And I wanna know some things. Like are any of us real? Does happiness exist? Will I ever love myself? I'm just asking questions!"
"Hello, I'm Richard." Greeted a moleman. "I'm a raging alcoholic, and I think I'm at the wrong meeting." Richard dug a hole in the ground and left.
"Why didn't he just go through the door?" Eddie asked.
"Reagan, how about you?" Mothman asked.
"Eff, this is so lame!" Reagan complained. "Well, my dad stole my big promotion, he erased my memories, he tricked my boyfriend here into bonding with an alien symbiote, and I had to stage a coup, and other than Eddie here, no one had my effing back!"
"Honey, I have been there." Said a decorated dictator. "Right now, you must be thinking 'Do I murder them? How many of them do I murder?'"
"Yeah, I am." Reagan said finally smiling.
"Well, I wouldn't go so far as to murder them," Eddie said, "But it is pretty shitty how they put their own self-interests before ours. How selfish can they be?"
"Oh, cry me a river!" Everyone followed the new voice back to the purple-hooded man.
"Excuse me?" Reagan asked offended.
The man finally removed his hood revealing his barely-shaven face. "You know who she is, right? That's the daughter of Rand Ridley, head of Cognito Inc. Yeah, Miss Nepotism case here is crying because she has to wait a little bit longer for her dream job."
"Hey, now. That's not very fair." Eddie said.
"And let's not forget about Eddie Brock here." The man said.
"You know me?" Eddie asked.
"I know enough. I know that you don't have any room to talk about selfish people since you tend to hurt people with your self-interests yourself."
"Ouch. And here, I thought Reagan was the only one who gets you pegged."
"Wow, dickbag." Reagan said. "Who the hell are you?"
"Okay, this is supposed to be anonymous." Mothman said cautiously, but he wasn't being listened to.
"Ron Staedtler. I've been wiping minds for the Illuminati for ten years, and in my line of work, there are no 'safe spaces'."
"Oh, God. Here we go." Reagan said rolling her eyes.
"You think having a few memories deleted is hard?" Ron asked. "Try being the guy who deletes those memories. Then you're the only one who has to live with them."
"Wow. I thought you had to be cool to work in the Illuminati." Reagan mocked. "Who let this dork in? Am I right? You get it, right, Brock?" Eddie laughed at that.
"And I thought you had to be smart to work for the Deep State." Ron shot back standing back up.
"Listen, asshole," Reagan said standing back up, "I'm the smartest person in this room."
"Easy there, Reagan." Eddie said. "I know he's asking for it, but you're in a bad enough place already."
"I know your type." Ron said smugly. "You say you got into this job to save the world, but all you care about is revenge. And as for you, Brock, you're all too easy to read. You claim to be looking out for the little guy, but in the end, you'd stop at nothing to get ahead in life, even if it means leaving everyone else in the dust."
"Okay, dude! What's your deal?" Eddie asked aggressively. "I don't even know you! What's your problem with me?"
"Oh, where do I begin?" Ron asked. "If either of you really wanted to save the world, you'd do whatever it takes!"
"You know what? You're right." Reagan realized.
"He is?" Eddie asked.
"Oh, yeah. Looks like this group of sad sacks motivated me after all. I'm taking down my father at any cost." Reagan proceeded to storm out.
Eddie turned back to everyone with a nervous chuckle. "Well, I'd love to chat more, but Reagan's my ride, so…" He proceeded to leave, but not without taking one last look at Ron Staedtler.
"What's up, Eddie?"
"I don't know. There's just… something about that guy."
After the meeting, Reagan headed straight to her lab to tinker with a gauntlet. Not long after that, Eddie caught up to her.
"Hey, sweetie." Eddie greeted nervously. "So… You kinda stormed off in the middle of a meeting."
"Sorry to make a scene, Eddie, but that hooded douche is right. I'm going to have to do whatever it takes to take my dad down."
"And how do you plan to do that?" Eddie asked. "You're not going to try that 30-point plan on your own, right?"
"No way. I may be hungover, but I'm not stupid." Reagan said. "Tell me, have you ever heard of Bohemian Grove?"
"The private park in Northern California where the world's most powerful people in the world meet once a year?" Eddie asked. "Yeah, I'm familiar with it."
"Well, this shouldn't come as a surprise to you, but those 'most powerful people' are actually all the Shadow Government societies. The Reptoids, the Atlanteans, the Catholic Church, the Juggalos (for some reason), us, and the Illuminati." Reagan explained. "Every year, the Illuminati challenges Cognito to a series of contests, and the loser literally kisses the winner's ring. JR always lost, so my dad is going to try to break the losing streak. I overheard him planning to use my nanobots as performance enhancers. This gives me the perfect chance to bring him down in front of the entire Shadow Government."
"How so?"
"This glove I'm working on," Reagan said holding up the glove she's been tampering with, "This allows me to control the nanobots. The second I activate it, Rand will be my virtual puppet."
"It doesn't get any simpler than that."
"Does it work?" Eddie asked.
Reagan smiled before shooting a swarm of black nanobots out of her glove. She then used it to get inside of Eddie's mouth. "You tell me," she said before moving her gloved hand. Eddie was forced to shift himself around and dance to her command.
"Okay! Point proven!" Eddie shouted before the nanobots left his body. "Next time, please warn me before you do that. I've got enough to worry about with Venom in my body."
"Sorry. I swear, I'll make it up to you in bed after I humiliate Rand." Reagan promised.
In the dead of night, under the full moon, the six societies were met by torches burning around every corner. The Atlanteans came first lead by their king, Namor the Sub-Mariner. Next came the Pope and the Catholic Church. The Reptoids appeared from their camouflage sticking onto the red, rocky walls. After that, the Juggalos drove in preaching their control over global finance.
"And next," the announcer called out, "We have the losers from last year's Power Games. The stuffed shirts from Washington. I doubt they even showed up."
He was proven wrong when a Cognito helicopter flew in with Rand's picture painted on the side. It opened up allowing the CEO to exit along with Brett, Gigi, Dolph, Andre, and Myc.
"That's right, bitches! Ridley is back and Rand-ier than ever!"
"Rand Ridley!" Namor shouted. He extended the wings on his ankles and swiftly flew towards him. He stopped pointing his trident at Rand's throat.
"Hey, Namor." Rand said showing no fear. "Long time, no see."
"I should skewer you where you stand, you land-dwelling bastard!"
"Charming." Rand said. "But you remember the treaty. I stay away from the ocean, and my body is skewer-free."
Namor growled pulling his trident away. "Fine. Seeing you get humiliated by the Illuminati is enough solace for me." He flew back to his people.
"We'll see about that." Rand said. "I doubt they can even top our entrance."
All of a sudden, a black pyramid protruded itself from the ground with a golden top that had an eye etched in it. After shooting an explosive beam of light, the front entrance opened up at the same time as AC/DC's "Back in Black" played for everyone to hear. Six people revealed themselves walking outside of it as the announcer introduced them.
"And finally, we saved the best for last! The all-seeing, all-knowing, all-partying… ILLUMINATI! And because they're so much better than everyone else, I'm introducing each of them one by one!" He called them all out as the exited the pyramid one by one. "Black Bolt! Medusa! Dr. Strange! Mr. Fantastic! Professor X! And last, but certainly not least, the leader of the Illuminati… IRON MAN!"
"Illuminati confirmed!" Iron Man called out earning the praise of everyone. He headed down to the field with everyone else.
"Black Bolt and I still can't believe we have to partake in this." Medusa said clutching onto her husband's arms.
"It's called pleasing the crowd." Iron Man said. "Look, the Shadow Government are the real heads of power around here. The only way we can get in good with them is by playing by their rules."
"You enjoy this, don't you?" Mr. Fantastic asked.
"Maybe a little." Iron Man said before finally noticing the Cognito CEO glaring angrily at him. "Rand Ridley? Didn't your own company kick you out?"
"Dream on, Stark! Cognito's more powerful than ever." Rand said. "We control the president, big oil, and I have a button that can move the moon."
"That's cute." Iron Man said. "But let's face it. We here at the Illuminati are making the real differences in the world. Relations with mutants. Relations with inhumans. Fighting powerful forces from dimensions and galaxies all around. We're the organization that really matters. The only reason the Robes are keeping you alive is because killing you means a lot of paperwork."
"That's not true!" Rand argued.
"Good argument." Iron Man replied. "Tell you what, Ridley. If you can beat me at this year's Power Struggle, I won't pants you in front of the Pope and Instagram it for the whole shadow world." He turned back to his fellow Illuminati members and left with them leaving Rand angry.
What no one knew, however, was that Reagan and Eddie managed to successfully sneak their way into Bohemian Grove. Reagan used an owl mascot costume to sneak backstage while Venom climbed from the top of the trees. They met again behind a tent. Venom reduced himself back inside Eddie while Reagan put on her glove.
"You ready?" Reagan asked.
"S-Sure." Eddie said nervously.
"Yeah, I can hear the enthusiasm in your voice."
Eddie and Reagan climbed up a hill to get a good vantage point of the first competition: the Lumberjack-Off, as they call it. All the leaders appeared next to their assigned trees with axes in their hands. They could overhear Rand's exchange with Iron Man.
"Hey, Stark, how about a toast?" Rand asked holding up a shotglass.
"Well, I was saving this for later," Iron Man said as his faceplace was removed. He held up his own glass full of alcohol. "But hey, it's five o'clock somewhere."
"How is anyone supposed to beat a guy who has a power armor?" Eddie asked watching the two drink.
"That's what the nanobots are for." Reagan said. "Unfortunately for Rand, he won't get to enjoy it."
"Am I the only one questioning where Stark was keeping a shotglass?"
"Enough talk." Reagan said. "The glove is on and the gloves are off."
With her glove, Reagan motioned her hand which made Rand do the same. She made him swing his axe and let go causing it to impale the tree next to Iron Man.
"What the hell?" Rand asked trying to regain control of his body. "This isn't supposed to be happening."
"Performance issues. I get it." Iron Man said raising his axe. "Let me show you how a real conspiracy theorist gets it done."
Iron Man prepared to swing his axe, but he stopped. Like Rand, he also had a confused reaction to it. He swung his own axe until he impacted the blunt end to the announcer's crotch.
"Uh, what happened to Stark?" Eddie asked.
"I don't know." Reagan said.
"Eddie, asshole at eleven o'clock."
Eddie turned his attention until he spotted a familiar figure. "Oh, shit. Reagan, look who it is."
Reagan turned in the same direction and spotted Ron Stadtler, who was wearing a pair of high-tech goggles which were glowing purple. His motions matched Iron Man's.
"You son of a bitch." Reagan sneered.
After the competition, Reagan ran as fast as she could to confront Ron with Eddie behind her. "Hey! What the eff do you think you're doing here? You're sabotaging my sabotage."
"Uh, you're the smartest one in the room. You tell me." Ron said.
"I'm not telling jack to a guy who looks like an '80s supervillain."
"Yeah, says teen Bill Nye."
"She does look like a teen Bill Nye."
"Okay, okay. Enough, everybody." Eddie said. "Look—Ron was it—Clearly, you have issues with Tony Stark. Since Reagan and I were here first, why don't you reschedule your revenge plot and let us have…"
"Why don't you shut it?" Ron snapped. "The last thing I need is for you to tell me that you want something."
"Okay, dude. What the eff do you have against my boyfriend?" Reagan asked. "And what the hell are those goggles. Give them to me."
"No way!" Ron responded moving his head back as Reagan tried to grab them.
"This is better than pay-per-view."
While Ron and Reagan wrestled for control of the goggles, the leaders gathered around for the next competition. On the far side of the clearing where they stood, a stone cage stood before them.
"Lock and load, my pretties." The announcer said. "It's time for the manhunt!"
While Rand was loading up his gun, he looked over at Tony's empty hands. "Hey. Where's your gun, rich boy?"
"Uh, hello. Repulsors, anyone?" Iron Man replied waving his hand. He aimed his gauntlets over at the cage as it was about to be opened. "All right, FRIDAY. Prepare to lock on."
During Ron and Reagan's scuffle, both of their inventions were activated and both Rand and Iron Man were under their control just as the cage finally opened. A single man appeared with his wrists bound. His face was covered by a cow skull and he wore only a fur coat. Because the inventions were activated while Reagan and Ron fought, Rand and Iron Man fought too.
"Cut it out, Stark!" Rand ordered.
"You think I'm doing this?" Stark asked. "If I was up to something, it would be a lot more obvious!"
"Will somebody shoot that prisoner?" Namor asked.
"I got him!" the Pope yelled as he fired his gun. It went straight for the prisoner who raised his hands trying to shield himself. However, just as the bullet was about to hit him, a red force field surrounded him deflecting the bullet. "What the…"
"A force field?" Iron Man asked. "Where did he get a force field?"
"I think he's wearing a watch that generates it." Rand said. "What the hell?"
The prisoner took the opportunity to run for his life. Everyone tried to shoot him, but the force field deflected them all. He disappeared in the woods right after.
Back with Reagan and Ron, Eddie finally pulled them back to their feet and separated them. "Hey! You two! Cut it out!"
"Eddie, I thought you were on my side." Reagan said.
"I am, but you two fighting isn't going to accomplish…"
"Hey! What are you three doing?"
The three of them were found by a security guard. He raised his guns to tase them, but Eddie changed into Venom and stopped him. He bit his head off and swallowed it.
"Whoa. So that's Venom, huh?" Ron asked.
"You got that right." Venom repeated before returning into Eddie's body.
"Look, we gotta lay low before we end up in Bohemian Grove jail." Eddie said.
"I know a place." Ron said. "Follow me."
By the time Ron lead Reagan and Eddie into the giant, hollow owl monument, Rand and Iron Man were the only ones left in the Power Struggle. The three of them rested in the owl's face.
"Well, that could have gone better." Eddie said.
"Yeah. If only one of us could have kept our cool." Reagan said glaring at Ron.
"Brave of you to admit that." Ron retorted.
"Hey, come on, dickwad." Eddie said. "Reagan's anything but a nepotism case. She deserves her revenge."
"Thank you, Eddie." Reagan said.
"Sure, say whatever gets you a busy Friday night and Saturday morning." Ron said.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Eddie asked. "Seriously, dude. Why are you so pissed at me?"
"You really don't know?" Ron asked.
"No! Seriously, dude! What did I ever do to you?"
"It's not what you did to me." Ron said. "It's what you did to my girlfriend."
Eddie raised an eyebrow. "Your girlfriend?"
"Hello, Eddie."
Eddie's eyes widened hearing a woman's voice behind him. She turned to find a woman with short, blonde hair standing behind him. She crossed her arms and gave him a judgmental look.
"Anne?" Eddie asked.
"Wait, what?" Reagan asked. "That's Anne? Your ex-fiancée?"
"She's also my girlfriend." Ron said as Anne joined by his side.
"Oh, crap. Ain't that a coincidence?"
"How is this possible?" Eddie asked.
"Well, after you costed me my job, I had to find a new place to work." Anne said. "Thankfully, there was a position at the Stark Industries law office. After a while, I met Ron, and he was already going through a hard time."
"What hard time?" Reagan asked.
Ron sighed. "In college, I was a conspiracy theorist. I believed that behind the chaos, there must be some secret group of geniuses that could save the world. That's what lead me to working for the Illuminati. I joined Stark's science team after figuring out he was head of the Illuminati. But then, I learned the truth. The Shadow Government is really made up of a bunch of arrogant assholes who are too stubborn to take responsibility for themselves. After a while, I really got sick of covering up their messes. I was lucky that Anne found me."
"Though, there are times when I can't comfort him." Anne said. "Like the other day, when he was about to get his Illuminati ten-year chip, they caught him trying to drink an entire vat of mind-erasing liquid. That's when I recommended him to Anon-Anon. Although, the last thing I expected was for him to start a bout with my ex-boyfriend and his new girlfriend."
"Annie, he used you. He ruined your career." Ron said. "What was I supposed to do?"
"It's all right, Ron." Anne said clutching onto his hand. "To be honest, our relationship was doomed to fail anyway."
"What do you mean?" Reagan asked.
"Well, during our time together, I was the very center of Eddie's world." Anne said. "It was sweet, but he had to sacrifice his own principles just for me. He didn't agree with everything I did, but he went along with it anyway."
"Well, yeah. Isn't that what relationships are about? Compromise and all that junk?" Reagan asked.
"Of course, but he didn't compromise. He just went along with whatever I said, even though deep down, he didn't truly support me. And when he posted that article that got me fired, I guess that was him unable to contain it anymore."
"Well, it looks like he hasn't learned his lesson."
"Shut up, Venom." Eddie said under his breath.
"No!" Venom's head shot out of Eddie's shoulder to speak loudly. "Reagan, Eddie's doing the same thing to you as he did to Anne! He doesn't really think your revenge plan is any good!"
"No! Don't listen to him!" Eddie shouted. "He's crazy! I…"
"Eddie, wait." Reagan said. She gave him a sullen frown. "Please, be honest with me? Did you really go along with my plan because you thought you had to?"
"…Yes." Eddie admitted sadly. "Look, Reagan, my entire life has been shit. My mom died the very minute I was born. My dad abused me my entire childhood. I thought I had it good with Anne, but went badly. After that, I was fired, evicted, manipulated to be bonded to an alien, and straight-up ruined. You're literally the only good thing I have going on in my life, and I don't want to ruin it."
"Oh, Eddie." Reagan said sitting right next to him. "You don't have to make yourself miserable for my sake. We're partners in this relationship. Equals."
"But I…"
"Hey. Things may not have worked out between you and Anne, but you heard her. It all started when you supported causes you didn't believe in. You spent so much time trying to make us happy, but you didn't have any time to rebuild yourself. Surely, there must be more to Eddie Brock then just being my boyfriend."
"But I don't know any other good things about myself." Eddie said.
"Then I'll help." Reagan said. "We're going to rebuild you, Eddie. Like maybe a hobby or a part-time job. You gotta get paid somehow since Rand refuses to pay you. But first thing's first… Eddie, what do you really think about my obsession for revenge?"
Eddie thought and struggled to keep in his honesty, but he decided to come out with it for her sake. "Okay. You're right. Rand does deserve everything that's coming to him, but it shouldn't be by your hand. You heard him. If you get rid of him now, the Robes will just find someone to replace him, and it won't be you."
"I see." Reagan said. "Keep it up. What do you think I should do?"
"Well…"
"Just let it out already!"
"I am." Eddie said. "Okay, look. You said so yourself. Rand Ridley in charge is basically a globally-damaging midlife crisis. Any day now, he could end up compromising everything. You don't need to make him look like a fool. Sooner or later, he'll do it to himself. Once the Robes see how wrong they were in appointing him instead of you, they'll boot him out and put you back on top where you belong. Until then, we just have to ride it out."
"And you think it's better than my revenge plan?" Reagan asked.
"Reagan, you made the plan when you were angry and drunk." Eddie said. "I hate Rand too, but this is probably our best move."
Reagan thought for a moment before smiling. "You know what? You're right. I'm done wasting energy trying to fight my dad. He's just going to end things up on his own anyway. Maybe my next crazy plot should be my own happiness. And yours too."
Eddie smiled back. "Thanks. And I promise, we'll find something to help me get my life together."
"Aww. How sweet. I might get a cavity."
"You know, seeing something that effing wholesome just put my own revenge plan on the backburner." Ron said. "How about we get out of here and enjoy the night, Anne?"
"Sure thing." Anne said.
"Wait. Ron." Eddie said. "Any chance I could borrow your mind-control goggles?"
"Um, sure, I guess." Ron said passing his goggles to him.
"What have you got in mind?" Reagan asked.
"Well, these goggles are connected to Stark and your glove is connected to Rand." Eddie said. "We may not be able to ruin your dad now, but I think there's a way for us all to mess with our bosses and enjoy ourselves doing it."
"And now, the final round." The announcer said with Iron Man and Rand standing side by side. "The ancient noble competition known as… the Destructo-Games! Simply blow up enough of the targets to win the games!"
"You're going down, Stark." Rand said.
"I don't think so, Ridley." Iron Man said. "Did you forget, I have a whole arsenal at my disposal?"
Both Rand and Iron Man readied themselves. But before they could begin, the goggles and gloves activated on them, and just as Eddie and Reagan were doing right at that moment, the two heads came onto each other and kissed in front of everyone. Everyone was caught off guard, including the both of them. Reagan and Eddie removed their goggles and glove letting both Rand and Iron Man separate from each other. They stammered trying to make sense of what just occurred until the crowd cheered.
"It's a draw!" the announcer declared. "A years-long feud ended in one beautiful gesture of intimacy! Now, this is finally a party!"
"You're really rue this day, Ridley." Iron Man whispered to his rival.
"See my ass, Stark." Rand replied. "Cognito will bury you for this like we buried Jimmy Hoffa!"
When Eddie and Reagan left the owl half-naked, they joined Ron and Anne as they witnessed a very peculiar sight. Many of the agents from all organizations were half-naked getting wild on each other.
"What the eff just happened?" Eddie asked.
"I guess you two started it." Ron said.
"Mind control's a bitch, isn't it?"
"Worth it." Reagan said. "Hey, Anne, this isn't going to be weird, right? I mean, me and Eddie in the same support group as your boyfriend…"
"Nah, it's all right." Anne said. "I mean, you're not going after my man are you?"
"God, no."
"Then we're cool." Anne said.
"Are we cool too?" Eddie asked.
"Eddie, it's been three years. I've moved on." Anne said. "Sure, it's going to take some getting used to, but we work for the Shadow Government. Everything's complicated."
"All right." Ron said before looking at Eddie and Reagan. "So I guess I'll see you two at the next meeting."
"We'll be there." Reagan said before leaving with Eddie. "All right, babe. Time to start rebuilding Eddie Brock."
"Looking forward to it." Eddie said. "And, hey. Thanks for getting me out of it."
"Thank you for being the voice of reason between us." Reagan said. "You just earned yourself a special round in bed tonight, mister."
"Ooh. Sounds spicy."
"Venom…" Eddie growled.
"Sorry. Pretend I'm not here."
Unbeknownst to any of them, the cow-skulled man who was supposed to be killed in the manhunt made his way far enough from Bohemian Grove to finally have the time to free himself of his bonds. He then removed his skull finally freeing his face.
It was JR Sheimpough.
"Finally! I'm free!" JR looked down at the force field watch he was wearing. "Wow. That Kasady guy really knew what he was doing when he built this for me out of scraps and arranged for me to be part of the manhunt. And all I had to do was promise to free him from Shadow Prison X. HA! As if I'd ever let someone that nuts out in the world."
JR took a few steps before a thought entered his mind. A lingering idea made him more fearful.
"Although, now that I think about it, if he managed to help me find a way to escape, he might find a way to escape himself once he realizes I intended to let him rot. And if he escapes, he's gonna come after me. GAH! Guess I have no choice. I need to find a way to free Cletus Kasady."
"Hey, who the hell are you?" asked a voice from behind. It came from Sasquatch, who was passing by eating a bagel.
"Who the hell am I? I'm JR effing Sheimpough! Who the hell are you? Chewbacca?"
"Goddamn it!"