Chapter 5: My Friend
Authors Note: Thank you all for the reviews and favorites. I appreciate all of your feedback and support. I hope you had a nice holiday and stick around for my new stories.
Disclaimer: I do not own anything Marvel.
Miguel was feeling fifty different kinds of messed up as he felt his body being dragged somewhere unknown. He couldn't see due to the bag over his head and he couldn't fight back, whether it was from the beating or the drugs he didn't know.
He soon found himself violently sat down in what he assumed was a chair as he felt metal restraints clasped down around his wrist. He gave his arms a tug, but stopped as soon as the restraints painfully dug into his wrists.
He heard footsteps approach him and very shortly the hood was violently ripped off. Miguel was blinded by the bright light, which made his head spin. His vision was still blurry, but he could make out the man in the white suit.
"Darko." Miguel mumbled out.
"Oh, so you know who I am?" Darko chuckled. "I guess our mutual friend has loose lips. What else did he say about me?"
Miguel glared at his smug face, no remorse or misguided intentions. He was evil and he had no regrets for what he has done or what he is going to do.
"He told me what a psycho you are, how you and your Hydra buddies are hell bent on creating a rabid alien army an idea so stupid that it got your buddy banished from his home planet. Did I forget anything?" Miguel snapped. Darko ran his hands through his black hair, slicking it back.
"No, but you missed a few key details." Darko stated. "For example, I never really affiliated myself with Hydra. I just used them for my experiments and number two the army I am working on will surpass anything that anyone could even dream of, even Captain America will fail in comparison to what I am about to achieve."
"Oh god!" Miguel scoffed, earning a glare from Darko. "That's what all this is about, creating the next Captain America?" Miguel started chuckling at the idea of Darko's grand army. "Loser, the only thing you're gonna do is unleash a cancer upon the world. You can't control them, hell it took you forever to find a suitable host for the Symbiote. Meek told me about the red ones. They are unstable, violent creatures who feed on blood and live for the carnage. You are being manipulated by that thing inside of you and it will destroy you."
"No, Payne and I have a bond, strong and united like you and Meek. We can harvest enough blood from the two of you and even a small army will be enough to take over the city by the end of the month and by the end of the year ill have the world in the palm of my hand."
"Oh, give me a break." Miguel scoffed, Darko glared at the boy, feeling his better half getting agitated. "Meek told me what the red ones can do and how vicious and feral they are. That's why your species kicked you off of your home planet and you just happened to pick an egomaniac, narcissistic piece of shit like Darko. You two were made for each other."
Miguel was cut off when Darko's hand, now a black murky orange monstrous claw, wrapped around Miguel's neck, effectively silencing him.
"You want to know what humans have in common with the Klyntar?" Darko asked. "The whole galaxy sees us as parasitic vermin. Weak, useless and powerless, but with the two of our species combined we will be unstoppable and with the red ones we can merge Klyntar and humans without needing a suitable host. We just need an endless supply of human/Klyntar blood, so I ask you," Darko's body was consumed by the alien, who now stood over Miguel. "Where is Meek?"
Paynes face was different from Meeks, its eyes were more slanted its teeth were jagged and black. It was a grotesque sight and Miguel was face to face with it.
"Dear god, you are the ugliest freaking thing I have ever seen!" Miguel shouted. "And you smell like-SHIT!"
Miguel was ripped out the chair, the restraints broken with ease as the psychotic monster tightened its grip around Miguel's neck.
"You and Meek are the only subjects that have achieved true symbiosis and you will supply my army or red Klyntar. Now, where is Meek?"
"He's gone, you killed him in that explosion!" Miguel shouted into Payne's face. "If it makes you feel any shittier, your plan was always doomed to fail. Our own government has failed in creating and army of superfreaks what makes you think you will succeed?"
"I will break them down and make them submit to my will. Darko will have the means to control them and this world will be the stepping stone in my grand plan." Payne growled in Miguel's face.
"You will fail." Miguel snarled.
"You will not live to see it!" Payne's mouth expanded, exposing more of its jagged teeth. Miguel cringed and looked away as Payne slowly pulled his head into his gapping maw, until gunfire started to echo throughout the broken labs.
Payne threw Miguel back into his chair, before retreating back inside of Darko. He stepped out of the room and into the hallway.
"Ritz, what is going on?"
"Someone broke in and is taking out our guards." His head of security explained. Darko let out a frustrated grunt, storming out of the room.
"Watch him and if he moves or if I don't come back, kill him!" Darko ordered, running out of the holding cell and towards the gunfire. Miguel grunted as he adjusted himself in his seat. He looked up and scowled at Ritz.
"Why the hell do you work for that asshole." He grunted.
"Shut up, you saw what that thing can do and Darko is planning on creating an army of them." Ritz explained. "I'd rather be on the opposite end of those teeth if you don't mind."
"Pussy." Miguel chuckled.
"Screw you!" Ritz shouted as he aimed his assault rifle at Miguel. Miguel braced himself, but before Ritz could fire a black string of web shot down from the ceiling and connected to the barrel. In an instant the rifle was yanked out of his hands and up towards the ceiling and into the six hands of a black suit assailant.
Ritz looked up in horror as the figure smiled a set of razor-sharp teeth and dropped down on him from the ceiling. Ritz screamed as Miguel cringed and looked away, listening to the sound of flesh being torn apart teeth chomping down on bone.
When the noise stopped, Miguel looked over and marveled at what he was seeing. Dex and Meek were together, his form was slenderer and his arms were more claws than hands. He turned around and his teeth shined with his malicious grin.
"Hello, Miguel." Meek chuckled as he wrapped all six arms around his friend. The purple sludge slid off of Dex and onto Miguel seeping back into Miguel's body.
"Whoa, I feel like I'm coming off of a high or something." Dex chuckled as he stepped back from Miguel.
"Yeah, he has that effect on you." Miguel chuckled. "Did Otto and Kara let you in on the plan?"
"Yeah, not very clever, but hey it works."
(Earlier that night)
Dex stirred awake as he felt better than ever, despite being blown up a few minutes ago. He jumped to his feet when he realized that Miguel was gone.
"Miguel!" Dex shouted. He looked around at the fiery neighborhood and he let out a swear as he made his way to the front of the building. He reunited with Fury and Romanoff along with Miguel's family. "They took him, Darko's men took him and now they have him and Meek"
"You are half right."
Before Fury or Miguel's mother could respond to him, Meek whipped out of Dex's right shoulder, causing everyone to jump back in surprise.
"Otto, do you still have your cell phone?" Meek asked.
"Yes, Kara's tracker is active and we have Miguel's location." Otto stated as he showed Dex his phone.
"Where the hell did you get a tracker?" Dex asked.
"My dad is a cop. He has a few tools at his disposal like a tracking device and well…I stole it." Kara chuckled sheepishly. "It was all Miguel's idea though and Otto rigged the device to his phone!"
"Kara, what the hell?" Otto snapped.
"Hey, if it's for a good cause I think he will forgive you." Dex said with a laugh. "Fury, we need intel and resources."
"I've already notified my team. Traffic cams and drones are already on point." Fury explained.
"Great, let's get going!" Dex raised his arm ready web sling out of there, but his arm started changing into a purple limb which quickly spread all around his body. Meek's malicious grin grew even wider when he examined his temporary host.
"Oh wow, this is feeling pretty good!" Meek raised his arm and shot out a purple web at a street light and pulled himself off of the street and after Miguel.
(Present)
"A risky move using yourself as bait." Dex chuckled.
"Yeah, well we found the crazy A-hole, so now we can get him and put an end to this nightmare." Miguel stated. "Where are we anyways?"
"The shipping yard, where we first met." Dex stated.
"Aww, right under our noses." Miguel grunted. "I guess we were too preoccupied kicking each other's asses."
"Miguel, we have a problem." Meek stated. "Many of my species are no longer in their containment cells. I do not think Payne would just set them free."
"You think that he ate them?" Miguel asked. He could feel Meek's remorse for his fallen brethren. "Meek, I am so sorry."
"We need to stop Payne, that is all that matters." Meek said as he wrapped himself around Miguel. "Are you going to be okay, Dex?"
"I'll be fine, let's go get this piece of shit." Dex said as he loaded his desert eagle. Meek nodded and the two of them went after Payne.
Meanwhile, Phil Coulsen and Agent Romanoff were both finishing off the rest of Darko's men. After clipping a few dozen of them, the rest of them surrendered and were cuffed and escorted into the back of their van's.
"Do we know where Miguel and Dex are?" Phil asked Romanoff.
"Dex said he made contact, but then the lines went down." She explained. "I say we send in a team to look for them."
Phil was about to agree when they started hearing thumping coming from one of the cargo containers. The agents readied their firearms when the doors burst open. Payne roared loud into the night as the agents opened fired on the monstrous symbiote.
The bullets bounced off of its slimy flesh as its right arm morphed into a spiky whip like appendage. Payne reached back and swung the whip around killing multiple agents in an instant. Romanoff and Phil narrowly dodged the attack and raised their guns and fired at the monster's head.
The only thing they accomplished was getting its attention. Payne's balled its left fist, morphing it into a spiked ball and leaped at the two agents, bringing its spiked fist down on them. Romanoff managed to get her and Phil out of the way, but Payne was still on them.
Its spiked fist turned back into a hand, but its nails turned extended into two-foot-long blades. Payne raised its hand to strike them while they were down, but thinking fast, Agent Romanoff pulled put a couple of sonic emitters and threw them at pain. They let out an ear-piercing screech causing Payne to fall back in pain. Its slimy flesh started quivering all over as it raised its foot and crushed the emitters.
The screeching stopped, but its relief was short lived as Meek pounced out from the secret entrance and tackled Payne into a nearby wall. The two alien monsters roared in each other's faces as they were now meeting for the first time.
"You wanted Miguel and I, well here we are!" Meek shouted.
"Good, now I can bleed you both dry and claim my army, before claiming this world!" Payne shouted back, before planting both of its feet into Meek's stomach, sending the hero flying back.
Meek regained his composure and flexed his arms out, morphing them into cleavers and lunged after Payne. Payne quickly dodged the attack and swung his fist at Meek's face, but the symbiotes newly acquired power allowed him to sense the oncoming attack and managed to counter it.
Meek grabbed Payne's wrist and using of his strength he flipped Payne over his shoulder and pinned it to the ground. Meek sent a heavy punch to Payne's face, the impact was so hard it smashed Payne's head into the concrete ground, breaking it in the process. Payne merely chuckled before looking back at Meek.
"Is that all you got?" It chuckled before breaking free from Meek's grip, delivering a spike fist across Meek's face. He tumbled back as Payne stood, raised its hands and stabbed its fingers into the ground. Meek was confused for a second, before Payne's fingers ripped through the concrete beneath him and started wrapping around Meek's body, pinning him to the wall.
Meek was immobile as Payne slowly walked towards him. Its murky orange flesh peeling back to reveal Darko's sadistic grin.
"I've been cheated out of my life too many times, Miguel." Darko stated. "Like you I too had dreams, I wanted to give back to humanity, but some viewed my methods as cruel."
"You experimented on people you psycho!" Miguel said as Meek's face peeled back revealing his host face. "You killed Hank and you killed all of those innocent people!"
"Who care about some homeless drifters taking up the sidewalk, or some old guy who's one day away from passing away in his sleep and of course a stupid kid who's silly paintings won't be good enough to take up space on a doctor's waiting room."
"Screw you!" Meek shouted through Miguel. Payne reemerged and raised its free hand, forming it into a cleaver and was about the bring it down on Meek until Dex swooped in and dropkicked the monster in the side of its head.
Payne was knocked back so hard that its whole body smashed through the brick wall of the building they were next too.
Meek got to his feet as he stood next to Dex.
"Are you okay?" Dex asked.
"Yeah." Miguel said. "We can't beat him by slugging it out. He heals to fast and he's too strong. We need sound and fire."
"We got some sound, but the fire will be no problem." Dex stated, nodding his head over his shoulder. Miguel looked over to see Agent Romanoff and Coulson along with a few other agents rigging up a landing platform with fuel barrels and explosive charges. "If we can lure Payne over there, we can barbeque his ass and be rid of him for good."
"Sounds like a plan, but we still have the problem of getting him there." Miguel warned. Payne was slowly standing to its feet and Dex open fired on the monster.
The .50 caliber rounds struck Payne enough times to get its attention. Payne grunted in annoyance as it raised its right hand, morphing it into a spear like weapon. It threw the projectile at Dex, who managed to dodge it, thanks to his spidey sense, but what he didn't count on was the blades extending out of the sides of the spear, grazing Dex's leg in the process. The other Stark fell to the ground as Payne leaped on him, brandishing its fang.
Meek quickly stepped in, grabbing a discarded pipe and started pummeling Payne. The pipe struck the side of Payne's head again and again until it was a mangled mess. Meek ditched the weapon and opted for his cleaver hands.
He raised the blades and cut down the monster, slicing out a good chunk of its orange, slimy flesh. The monster roared in pain, before turning its left hand into an axe, swinging it at Meek's head. Meek block the axe with his cleaver and managed to lock his blade in the groove of the axe. The two struggled for control, one trying to overpower the other.
Dex, whose leg was now bleeding out from Payne's attack, had been laid upon the ground for a few minutes while Meek and Payne slugged it out. Dex reached into his belt and pulled out two sonic emitters.
"Heads up, Meek!" Dex shouted as he threw the emitters. Meek glanced over at Dex and saw what he was doing and braced himself.
"Miguel!"
"I got it!" Miguel shouted. The emitters landed right at the two symbiotes feet and let out two ear bleeding shrieks. The symbiotes immediately began freaking out from the pain and nearly shed themselves from their host and Miguel saw his chance to strike.
He reached out and grabbed Darko by the collar of his coat and forcefully removed him from Payne. Meek expelled Miguel from his body as well and Miguel started to drag Darko away from his alien companion.
They only made it half way before Darko managed to overpower the young artist and tackled him to the ground. His hands quickly wrapped around Miguel's throat and started choking him.
"You really think that will be enough to stop me!" Darko shouted. "Payne and I are one. We are after the same goal!" Darko sent a punch to Miguel's face at the end of each sentence. "We want power, we want dominance and we want the world!" The final punch nearly knocked unconscious. "What do you want?"
"How about peace, how about friends or maybe a world without psychopaths like you?" Miguel chuckled as he grabbed Darko by the back of his hair and delivered a headbutt to the tyrant's nose.
Darko staggered back in pain, holding his now bleeding nose as Miguel charged at Darko and tackled him to the ground. They were just at the edge of the helipad when both Meek and Payne pounce on the two, tangling together in a mess of purple and orange material.
Miguel and Darko struggled against one another in the mess of Symbiotic flesh as Miguel finally managed to drag Darko and Payne into the center of the helipad. The two managed to break free, appearing in their physical form.
"You are a disgrace to our species!" Payne shouted.
"Maybe, but I will help build a new future with my friends, not destroy it like you!" Meek snapped back, his hands forming cleavers once again.
Meek swung his blades at Payne, cutting into his flesh, Payne roared in pain as it attempted to swing its own spiked fist at Meek. Meek dodged the first swing, but managed to block the second swing. Meek managed to pin Payne down on the ground, struggling to keep hold of it.
"Dex, now!" Meek shouted.
At the other end of the helipad, Dex and Romanoff stood together with flares at the ready. They threw the flares at the two symbiotes and watched as the pad went up in flames. The two aliens screamed in pain and fear as they started to detach from their bodies.
Dex saw his opportunity to help and using his upper and lower arms he braced himself to the railings at the end of the helipad and aimed his middle arms at Miguel and Darko. His web shot out at the two and stuck to their chest as he started to pull them out of the flames and separate them from their alien partners.
"What are you doing?!" Darko screamed as Meek raised his left hand, holding a bundle of grenades. Miguel's eyes widen as he knew what his friend was about to do.
"Meek?" Miguel's voice was barely above a whisper as his friend pressed down on the button of one of the grenades.
"Goodbye, Miguel and thank you."
"Meek!" Miguel shouted as both he and Darko were ripped out of their symbiotes. They flew back and crashed into Dex who caught them both easily. The grenades went off and Dex blocked the two from the explosion. When the smoke cleared the flames were still roaring, but the symbiotes were gone.
"No, no!" Darko screamed. "You've taken everything from me!"
Agent Romanoff quickly restrained his hands behind his back with a pair of handcuffs, but it made no difference, Darko was an emotional wreck. Miguel was just shocked. Dex managed to stand up and limp over to his companion, but before he could even get a word out, Miguel took a swing at him.
"How could you!" Miguel shouted as he tried to land a punch at Dex's face, but the spiderman caught it with no effort, but thanks to his leg he stumbled back and fell on his ass. Miguel started pummeling Dex, but Dex's arms blocked his attacks.
"Was it because he was an alien, or was it because you couldn't let an ordinary citizen have him or was it because you knew he couldn't bond with any of you and you deemed him useless!"
"It was his idea!" Dex shouted, catching Miguel's hands as the young boy caught his breath. "Meek knew that Payne had to be stopped, so he came up with the plan to trap himself and Payne on the helipad, douse it with flame and destroy it with all of our grenades."
"Meek did that?" Miguel mumbled.
"His priority was saving you." Dex staggered to his feet, helping Miguel up as well. "You were his friend. He could have had anything, but the only thing he valued in the end was you making it out alive."
Miguel looked back at the fiery pit where his friend had fought his enemy. Meek must have known that even if they had won, S.H.I.E.L.D would have had some plan to contain Meek and they would use Miguel to get him to do their bidding. The artist fell to his knees and started sobbing.
"Meek, I'm sorry."