"You know, it wouldn't hurt you to make a friend of your own species." Eddie Brock advised his past Symbiote.
"Uhm, yes, it would; did you forget that we just tried to bite each other's heads off like 10 minutes ago? My own son tried to kill us both a decade ago! We are just not a friendly species in general."
"That just proves my point! You see, Venom, every other member of your species has tried to kill us except him, until you started calling him names cuz, what, you wanna prove you're a big bad tough guy, right?"
"I am a big good tough guy, Eddie!"
"Then what if, hear me out, you were friendly to him? What if you invited him into your ancient hive and maybe tried one of his, ugggh, chocolate brains? You two have so much in common!"
"Like what?"
"Like you're both saving people, you both like brains, you're both outcasts from the others, you both drive your hosts nuts..."
"Oh, I guess we do have some things in common."
"Sure, his host is a total weirdo, but at least he's a good guy too, not an evil creep like Carlton Drake or Cletus Kasady!"
"Maybe you should stop judging people who aren't from your planet by so many human standards for normalcy, so you don't come off as so... persnickety!"
"Persnickety?"
"And that way you could make more friends too, Eddie!"
"Hey, I was nice to that Loki guy, and you're the one who scares my friends away! And why should you care if Healer's in your alien hive thing!? Should you really be treating him like a loser when you were a loser on your world?"
"Yes, now I finally have the chance to show I am the superior Symbiote!"
"No, now you have the chance to show some compassion! Be a bigger, better Symbiote than the rest!"
"But I am still the bigger and better of us both!"
"Then why don't you prove it by going and apologizing to him!"
"Apologizing!?"
"That's right, apologizing! And if he doesn't accept it..." Eddie sighed and put his hands over his face. "Then just give him some space for a while, and I'm... pretty sure he'll come to forgive you... sooner than he thinks."
"You mean...?" Venom reflected on his favorite host's words for a moment. "Eddie... you're the best!" He then retreated back into Mrs. Chen's body. "Yeah, we all know you can't stay mad at him for long, Eddie." She stated. "Especially when he's always saving your butt."
"That's good." Dylan added. "Venom means well."
"Yeah, I know." Eddie admitted. "Now it's time to get you back home for bed."
"Aww..."
Their ice cream long finished, Eddie tucked his son into bed again. "Good night, Dylan."
"Good night, Eddie."
His son finally asleep, Eddie sighed and headed to the bathroom to brush his teeth. As he grabbed the toothpaste, a black tendril wrapped around his mouth and dragged him out of the room while he struggled, skidding his feet into the ground.
"Don't be frightened, little human, it will only hurt for a moment, heheheh!" Through muffled screams, he took a quick look at the musclebound purple Symbiote that had broken in as it prepared to strike. He wasted no time in grabbing a match from his pocket and lighting it, but it was knocked out of Eddie's hand by another tendril. "You were going to fight me with a flaming toothpick? How adorable."
Eddie just shook his head and waited for the smoke to set off the fire alarm. Surely enough, the alarm went off, and the muscular Symbiote writhed in agony, releasing its grip on Eddie. He then grabbed the lighter fluid and poured it on the convulsing monster, and he threw the match at him before running to Dylan's room, but the boy met him outside the door.
"Hey, what's going on? I heard the alarm!"
Eddie scooped up the boy into his arms. "We're under attack by Symbiotes, and they're definitely not friendly!"
"Are we gonna go get Venom?"
"As much as I hate to admit it, yeah!" Eddie ran toward the rooftop, but he stopped at Dylan's warning.
"Eddie, wait! Don't go up there, I can feel something evil waiting for us there!"
"What?" He looked back, knowing that the purple one would be after them again soon. "We don't have many options here!" He carried his son up to the rooftop, but they were soon met with a red and black dragon, which clamped its jaws around Eddie. It sank its teeth into his back, causing him to scream in pain again!
"Eddie!" Dylan cried out. "Let him go, you big ugly dragon!" The dragon ignored him and sank its fangs in further until it felt Eddie's spine. "I SAID LET HIM GO!"
All of a sudden, Dylan's eyes glowed. He reached out for his father, and the dragon burst into pieces!
Eddie fell to the ground and stared at his son in bewilderment. "W-what!? How did you-" Dylan's eyes then dimmed, and he fell into his father's arms. "Right, explanation not important now!" As they two fled to Mrs. Chen's, the wingless Symbiote gazed up at the scene in amazement.
"That human child- that monster, what is he!?" He closed his eyes and contacted his brothers through their hive mind. "Dark brothers, Brock has a child with unusual powers: he obliterated the Grendel with a wave of his hand!"
"He did what!?" The leader exclaimed. The cult members discussed the matter, none of them hearing of a power like this before! "Absorb the remains of the Grendel then and follow Brock, but be careful they do not catch you!"
"I will, eldest brother!" He then absorbed the little blobs on the roof, and, harnessing the dragon's powers, he sprouted wings on his own back! He then spotted the two Brocks and tailed them from a distance.
Eddie burst through the doors of the convenience store and ran to the counter. "Venom, I don't have time for emotional drama now, just get out here now! We've been targeted again, and I need you to let me keep my kid safe from a gang of bad Symbiotes!"
"He's not here." Mrs. Chen bluntly answered.
"What do you mean, he's not here!? He was in your body just half an hour ago, where did he go!?"
"Looking for that detective's Symbiote to make friends, like you told him to do." She then got a good look at them, seeing the bloody teeth marks. "Eddie, you need to go to the hospital!"
"I'll be fine, I've survived worse than this! I just need to find him, and... ugh, I have no idea whose body he's in now!"
"I meant both for you and for Dylan! He looks unconscious!"
Eddie stifled a gulp. "Yeah, he- I don't know what happened to him, but he needs to go someplace safe, away from me! I think they're just after me, but they know where I live, somehow."
"I'll call an ambulance." The father and son duo were promptly rushed to the hospital.
"What's happened to the boy?" One of the nurses asked as she bandaged his wounds.
"I- I don't really know!" Eddie truthfully replied. "It looked like he collapsed from exhaustion!"
"Hmmm... yep, that's what it looks like to me too. Thankfully, you both should be fine by the time he wakes up. Just wait here and the doctor will make sure of it."
"Thank you." He turned to Dylan as she left the ER. "You're gonna be just fine, Dylan. If anything happened to you-"
"Eddie!?" The doctor exclaimed. "Eddie Brock, you're alive!?"
Eddie groaned. "Oh no, not him." He sighed. "Hey Dan. Listen, I'm really sorry, but I didn't know until..."
"You didn't know you're alive? I knew Venom had you confused sometimes, but..."
That's not what I meant, you- I mean, I'm so sorry about Anne."
Dan scrunched his face in confusion. "What about Anne?"
"Wha-? What do you mean, 'What about Anne!?' You're married to her, how do you not-" Then realization hit Eddie. "You're saying Anne's alive?"
"Of course Anne's alive, who told you she wasn't!?"
Eddie didn't reply, tears welling up in his eyes. "Annie... she didn't do it after all..."
"Didn't do what?"
Eddie just shook his head and grinned. "I'll tell you later, I'm just happy she's alive, man!"
Dan then glanced at Dylan. "So that's your son? The nurse told me his name is Dylan, right?"
"Yeah..."
"Congratulations! If you don't mind telling me, who's the mother?"
"Uh-"
"Right, sorry, too personal. Well, it appears that he's just a bit tired, overexerted himself, but he'll wake up in a matter of minutes. But your wounds... they look mostly like shark teeth, though if I didn't know better, I'd say you were attacked by-"
"A Symbiote, yeah."
"Oh no..." Dan groaned this time. "Every single time..."
"But this one was different!" Eddie explained. "It was a dragon, with wings and talons and everything!"
"How do I always get mixed into this alien- you mind leaving the room while I run an MRI? I don't want to freak out Venom again."
"Oh yeah, I gotta call him- he's not here yet, go ahead!" Dan started up the machine, but then Eddie remembered. "Oh wait, Dylan might have Venom's weakness to-" Eddie then noticed that the noise didn't affect the boy. "Oh, never mind."
"Why, you think Venom's DNA might have-" Dan's eyes widened at the results. "Oh my- is Venom the mother!?"
"It's... a bit more complicated than that. I'll explain in a minute." Eddie then dialed the Time Detectives' number and was directed to Loki. "Hey, detective, is Venom with you?"
"No, sorry. Are you and Dylan alright? Our acquaintance Rex here says a Symbiote dragon was unleashed by our suspect who hired Mancer..."
"Not anymore; it's dead." Rex interjected.
"Yeah, we saw it, but we're alright." Eddie replied. "But how did that guy know about the dragon, especially that it's dead?"
Loki turned to Rex. "That was my question exactly."
"Because I came from that dragon; we share a mental connection, though I came out much more civilized, obviously."
"Was it the same kind of dragon that Thor slew millennia ago?"
"The very same one, brought back from the hive afterlife."
"Lovely." Loki spoke to Eddie again. "Healer and I were on the trail of Mancer's buyer, Mr. Malatesta, when Rex approached and told us of the beast. And how did you slay it without Venom, with fire?"
Eddie looked at his son, who was still out. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you. Figures, Venom always decides to leave when I get into the worst trouble!"
"You told him to leave you a-"
"Not the point!" Eddie was then interrupted as the nurse walked in.
"Eddie Brock, I've got a painkiller for you to take for those terrible back wounds." The nurse faced Dylan, who winced in his sleep. "Poor thing must be having a nightmare; I don't blame him!"
"Oh, uh, thank you, but I'm-."
"Just relax, it'll only be a quick poke, and it's over." The lovely brunette reassured him before she stuck a needle into his back.
"AAH!" Eddie yelped. "If that's a painkiller... jeez!"
"Sorry, I said it does poke at first, but at least it was quick!" She cheerfully responded and left the room again.
"Why would she use a needle for that, and without even the IV hooked up?" Dan wondered aloud. "She must be new."
"She jabbed that thing right into my spine!" Eddie complained, while from the other end of the line, Loki and Rex exchanged concerned looks. "Shouldn't that be reserved for major operations or if I'm dying, or at least unconscious enough not to feel it!?"
Suddenly, they heard a series of smashing noises, followed by a few frightened screams from the lobby! "Did you hear that!?"
"An ally of Mancer's buyer?" Loki guessed.
"An ally of the dragon." Rex stated. He grabbed Loki's TemPad. "Do not let that nurse leave the hospital!"
"What!? What did she- it-"
"There's no time, just stop her!"
Eddie started for the door, but Dan blocked his path. "You still need to rest; I'll go after her!" He grabbed some flares, lighter fluid, and a portable MRI from his equipment. "Stay here and protect your son, doctor's orders!"
Dan ran into the lobby, finding holes both in the roof and in the vending machine. "She escaped!" Dan relayed back to Eddie. "And she took all of the chocolate bars with her!"
Eddie facepalmed. "Symbiotes... she must have been the one with the dragon."
"Nmm, dragon?" Dylan mumbled as he sat up. "The dragon's back?"
"Hey, Dylan! Naw, the bad dragon's a puddle of goop now, but I'm thinking we should let the detective and the good Symbiotes handle this one!"
"Like Venom?"
"Yeah, I hate to say it, but we've gotta find him again." Eddie then addressed Dan. "Hey, can Dylan stay with you and Anne for a bit? He should be safe there."
"Yeah, of course, and I have to- no, you have to tell Anne you're alive!"
"I- uh, I don't think this is the right time-"
"Is there ever a good time with you guys!? I mean, if she's going to meet your son, she needs to know now, right?"
"Who's Anne?" Dylan asked his dad.
"She's..." Eddie sighed. "I guess you'll find out soon enough."
In the meantime, Loki, Healer, and Rex sought out the trail of the codex-carrying Symbiote.
"So, is there a way to track down your fellow Symbiotes with that hive mind of yours?" Loki asked Rex.
"Only our children, or in my case, the dragon known as the Grendel, if it gets close enough. I don't know the identity of the one that took Brock's codex."
"Then we'll have to do this the hard way: we head to that hospital it left from and see if we can deduce which direction it headed." So they did as Loki planned, following the hole in the roof. He looked around the ground for any signs of movement. "Rex, could you or Healer switch to your less shapely form and move around on the ground here?"
Healer stretched himself out across the grass, still holding onto his host from the other end. "Okayyy... now what?" Loki gestured for him to come back to him, and he did.
"Unfortunately, it seems there isn't any sort of visible displacement or movement on the ground... there's nothing in the trees either, and Jörmungandr isn't able to pick up a scent from Symbiotes. It must either have taken to the skies or traveled somewhere by ship, maybe even a portal. But where would it go?"
"I have two guesses: either somewhere in Denmark, where the Grendel first roamed the Earth, or worse, back to Klyntar to free the creator."
"So that's why they need the codices of those present at the imprisoning only, to free the creator?"
"If worst comes to worst, a hunch I hope is incorrect."
"Then why don't we split up: I'll search Denmark while you search your homeworld. Ah, even better: since Thor is the one who defeated the Grendel in this universe, I'm sure he could assist me in finding its followers! And if he doesn't know anything, he could get Heimdall... or Sif, or whoever commands the Bifrost in this universe to tell us its location, given the threat it poses to mankind!" Rex nodded and gave Loki his contact number, and the detective sent him back to Klyntar.
"Sooo, we are going to either New Asgard in Norway, or Old Asgard in... Asgard?" Healer guessed.
"Well, by the year 2030, your guess is as good as mine. I suppose Thor and the others could have rebuilt the original Asgard, but he could be out somewhere in space too. That's why I'm hoping Asgard has a gatekeeper at present to lead us to him."
"Hopefully one that does not hate youuu."
"Indeed. Speaking of Thor, I'm curious now: was one of the reasons you bonded with me the fact that my brother freed your race from Knull's control? Be honest."
"Nope, I honestly didn't even realize that fact until you came to the conclusion yourself! My mind does not put things together like yooours, and all I really care about with our family is how they treat you, and how you feeeel about them."
"Well, I appreciate that! Now then, shall we start our search in Norway?"
"Ja, vi skal!"