Chapter Twenty One – The Reconciliation of Sinners

The blaring sirens and flashing lights softened into silence as the doors shut; I looked into the blank white eyes of Venom as he stared me down across the cathedral floor, his grin spreading exposing the ridiculous amount of sharp, shark-like rowed teeth. I took a few steps forwards, crossing the narthex of the building and advancing to the nave as the symbiote stared me down from the sanctuary alter.

"Lovely place for a date here Eddie, but I thought you were bringing some company for us?" My voice echoed as I walked silently past the pews. Venom rose to his full height, dwarfing me by about three feet, and similarly moved into the nave of the cathedral.

"They've been confessing, they have a lot to admit to." Venom whipped his right arm out and three black tendrils shot out. I tensed, ready to dodge, but instead they slammed into the doors of the confessional booths to my left, pulling the doors so hard I was surprised they didn't rip off their hinges. Sat down in three of the booths, tied with rope and gagged with cloth, were Venom's three hostages.

I took a second to glance at them, then refocused my attention to the writhing mass of teeth and inky muscle not twenty feet from me. "You have me now Eddie, time to let them go." I stopped, holding my ground, treating the monster in front of me like the animal he had decided to become. Venom crouched down, his back and shoulders curled forward as his massive fists rested on the ground. Even crouched he probably still had a few inches on my height.

"That's not how this works, Spider." Spat Venom angrily. "We have been wronged by all four of you." At this four tendrils emerged from his back, pointed at the three victims and myself. "You all need to-"

"The whole octopus-four-tentacle gimmick is already taken Eddie, and it wasn't scary then." I interrupted.

Venom roared in anger at the interjection to what was inevitably a monologue he had been working on, and the four tentacles lashed to the side, grabbing the nearest pew and flinging it in my direction. I leapt to the air, spinning over the bench as it slammed into the ground behind me. His mouth ripped open into a scream, before he convulsed, then calmed, stretching his neck out almost to release the anger and tension which had rapidly built up. "The sins of the guilty must be absolved." Venom growled.

A black tendril whipped out, dragging JJ out of his booth: "Wrath!" A second tendril grabbed Harry by the legs and pulled him: "lust!" A final third slammed into Felicia's chest and ripped her from the seat: "adultery!"

"Eddie, you don't need to do this." I pleaded, readying myself to the fight which I knew was inevitable.

enom stretched a long clawed finger in my direction: "worship of a false God." In a split second he dived forward, outstretched hand reaching for what was most likely my head, and I propelled myself backwards narrowly missing the sharp white nails of the monster. As I moved backwards through the air I glanced around quickly then shot out my arm. I felt a web attach to the opposite surface and yanked myself forward, staying out the reach of the symbiote. Venom lurched after me, moving to match my speed and I continued my vault, pushing myself up towards the vaulted ceiling. Venom likewise leapt, stretching his own tendrils to launch himself in my direction.

I took a second to look down, peering at the three figures, and smiled under my mask as I caught the shape of Felicia already beginning to slip out of her bindings. I just needed to keep Venom busy…

Easier said than done.

I adjusted my trajectory slightly to narrowly elude Venom's grasp and pushed myself towards the ground. I landed in a roll, trying to keep ahead of the slam I heard from behind me to signal that Venom was close, and sprinted towards the lady chapel of the cathedral. As I rounded the corner I felt my legs taken from under me, and I slammed hard into the stone ground. I tried to roll, but felt the black slime coalesce around my shins and crawl up to my thighs, then sat up to see Venom crawling menacingly.

"Caught you Spider." Venom opened his mouth wide, the sides splitting open, almost unhinging his jaw, and I shot a burst of webbing into his maw. The monster choked and I twisted free, shuffling to my feet and leaping. Instead of taking back to the air, however, I was instead dragged back to the cold floor by the massive hand of the monster wrapped around my ankle. The wind was pushed from my chest and lungs as I collided with the floor. Once again I twisted as Venom lunged at my throat, but narrowly I kicked my body up and felt my foot collide with his face sending his head jerking upwards. "Stop fighting!" Venom roared, throwing me back into the chapel. I sprinted towards the wall and transitioned from floor to vertical surface, running to get a look at the nave.

Distantly I could see the back of Felicia, her arms and legs unbound. Harry was sat next to her, bruised and bloodied from Venom's treatment, but quickly untying the rope on his own legs; obviously Felicia had prioritised her former 'lover' rather than JJ, who she was now helping get out of his wrist bindings. We briefly made eye contact, which filled me temporarily with a large amount of satisfaction at how I could almost see the steam bursting from his ears as he had to keep himself from shouting what he thought would be very insightful and comedic abuse.

I shot webbing back to the floor and used it to propel myself down, bringing my heels hard into the side of Venom's head. Using my momentum I flipped around him, spreading webbing as I went to tangle and wrap him in a cocoon. He flexed, breaking through the strands, so I pushed back, landing on the floor. I felt my feet stick to the ground and I pulled hard shaking Venom's balance who dropped to the floor. In seconds I was on top of him, punching and webbing the creature. I just needed to keep him busy long enough for Felicia to get everyone out… As I punched I saw the black mass underneath me move, and I leapt from him just as sharp spiked tendrils speared through the webbing. Venom lurched up and I attached more strands of webbing to his forearm, trying to pull him back down. In a turn of strength, however, he yanked, and I felt myself pulled off my feet towards the monster. His massive hand grabbed around my throat and chest. I continued pummelling his face with my fists, feeling the knuckles of my gloves rip and tear as they smashed against his teeth and face. Eddie thrust his arm out pulling me from his face, then flung me backwards.

I felt my body crash hard into the surface behind me, and before I could recover Venom's massive body slammed into me, shoulder barging me through the doors down the stairs into the crypts below the cathedral. I tried to recover quickly, but wasn't quick enough as Venom grabbed me once more around the chest and slammed me into the nearest wall. The bronze plaques of previous church ministers and members clattered to the floor. I tried to get my breath back as he kicked his muscled leg into my stomach, sending me down the dark crypt corridor. I touched my chest gingerly, trying to figure out if my rib was cracked or broken, then sidestepped as Venom sprinted at me. I narrowly missed the charge – Venom was so big he almost took up the whole of the corridor. I moved to run back towards the stairs but was pulled back by a dark tendril. Venom grabbed me around the chest and slammed me to the wall, then brought his face close to mine. The symbiote retracted from his face, exposing the real Eddie Brock to me.

"How's it feel Spider?" He hissed. I could see that he had let himself go – his ginger hair was greasy and his face look tired.

"I've felt better." I gasped. I clawed at his arms, trying to pull his hands off me, but he was stronger. I looked into his green eyes and thought back to everything he had done – attacking and kidnapping Harry, killing all those people, killing Ned, and let the anger overtake me.

"Just give in." Growled Eddie.

"Go fuck yourself." I responded. I kicked hard into his chest and I felt his grip loosen, but not because of the kick. I looked down and saw the symbiote beginning to gather around my forearms, wrap itself around my hands and wrists, try to rebond with me.

Suddenly I had a flash of images spread through my mind, thoughts and memories of the symbiote. I saw flashes of the Bugle offices, Venom rampaging through the desks, then I detected something that confused me: reluctance. I was watching through the eyes of the symbiote, reliving that memory of the kidnapping of JJ, reliving both the symbiote's and Eddie's thoughts. I felt anger and rage and hunger on the side of the symbiote, but sadness and regret from Eddie. He was trying to hold the demonic presence back, stop it from causing havoc. He was trying, had been trying, to refocus the symbiote onto the mission of Jameson, but the symbiote wanted carnage. I felt Brock's pain, his feelings of powerlessness as the symbiote pushed further into murderous rage before overtaking Brock.

That was a familiar rage. One I had sensed before, one that I had felt a lot. The feeling that you can't stop what was happening, that your life was being taken out of your hands. I thought back to the Goblin's laugh, when my life spiralled out of control. Brock and I were one and the same, driven by anger at what had happened in our lives, consumed by that. There was a difference, though. Brock had never wanted to kill those people, never wanted to kill Ned. It was the symbiote which did that. I however, didn't have that excuse. The Silvermane's death was my fault. Brock had tried to fight back and failed. I hadn't even put the effort into trying.

Clinging to my anger and sadness had caused me to fall, to forget why I started fighting, to forget my responsibility. Whatever I had become, whatever excuse I would have used for my behaviour, I had become a disappointment not just to Uncle Ben, but to Gwen as well.

I focused my will on the symbiotic presence, forcing it back, rejecting its attempted control over my body. A new sensation flooded my brain, a new emotion from the symbiote: rejection. It knew that I was pushing back, that I wasn't going to be controlled by my emotions anymore, and it was panicking, and so was Eddie.

"What are you doing?" He asked urgently, his face suddenly scared as the symbiote's fear reflected onto it's host.

"I'm fighting back Eddie." I answered determined. I grabbed Venom's arms and twisted, breaking his grasp and pushing myself away. Venom raised his arm, ready to resume his attack, just as a loud clanging filled he corridor. Venom dropped to his knees, shouting in pain as the intense echoing bells rang down the crypt corridors. I looked past Venom towards the stairs leading back to the first floor and saw Felicia and Harry, both shaking church bells in their hands, injuring and stunning Venom. Felicia nodded at me, and I returned it.

Then I kicked Venom in the face, and kicked him hard. He dropped to the ground and tried to scramble up, but he was trapped between the intense bells and my fists. I kicked again, then followed it up with a punch.

"Fight it Eddie!" I shouted, punching again. "I know you didn't want to kill those people! I know you're angry, but you can't let that anger control you!"

I punched repeatedly, the bells getting louder and louder as Felicia and Harry cautiously moved forward, getting closer and closer, causing the creature more and more pain. The liquid outer coating of Venom began to writhe and vibrate, parts of it retracting and exposing the bare skin and clothing of Eddie Brock which was underneath.

"I can't!" Gasped Eddie as his face appeared.

"You can!" I shouted, crouching down to come face to face with him. I held up a hand to pause Felicia and Harry and stared at him. "You're a good person. I know that, you just need help."

Brock groaned in pain and I could tell he was fighting the demons he felt inside of him, the demons which were being aided by the Venom symbiote. His head and shoulders were exposed and I saw veins popping across his neck and forehead with the strain. His large venom-clad hand went to his chest, and he clawed at the symbiote, ripping the liquid open down to his chest, and ripping through the t-shirt he was wearing. I could hear him muttering under his breath: a prayer. In his hand, ripped from underneath the symbiote and under his shirt, covered in his own blood from the claw marks which now littered his chest, was his crucifix.

"Fight it Eddie." I whispered to him.

He looked up into my eyes. "This is my burden to bear." His teeth gritted. "I need to pay for what I've done, and I'm going to control this so no one else is put in danger." He screamed in pain, and the symbiote began to retract, seeping into Eddie's skin. He wasn't fighting to rid himself of the monster, but instead to command the creature, to keep others safe from the influence. Slowly the symbiote vanished, being forced by Eddie into his own body, until the man appeared free from the influence.

He looked up at me, his eyes almost looking through me, then collapsed to the floor. I grabbed him and rolled him over. He was breathing. The internal struggle must have taken a lot out of him, but at the moment both man and monster were out for the count.

"Go get the police. Tell them that Brock is unconscious but we need to act fast. We don't know how long we have."

Harry nodded and limped up the stairs to follow the orders, but Felicia stayed put. "You can dress it up as much as you want, he's still a piece of shit."

I lifted him slowly, making sure to put the crucifix back around his neck. "We all are." I grunted. "What's important is that we fight to be better."

Felicia smiled. "If he weren't here I'd probably ask to kiss you."

I smiled back under the mask as I moved past Felicia towards the stairs. "If he weren't here I'd probably let you."

The pair of us (as well as Brock's unconscious body) moved up the stairs. By the time we got to the nave the police were already swarming. I saw Harry sat outside being attended to by medics, and Captain Stacey approached me. He nodded to Felicia. "Officer Davis, could you escort the young lady here to the medics and get her checked out?" He asked to a black officer who sported a scar down the side of his face. Felicia took one last look at me, then left the Captain and I alone. "You've done well tonight."

"I didn't do it alone. He helped." I nodded to the unconscious body of Eddie Brock. "He's pretty fucked up, but he wants to do better."

"He'll get the chance." Stacey replied. "I just hope he decides to take it."

"He will." I said with certainty.

Song Recommendation: Closer To The Edge by Thirty Seconds To Mars