A/N: Firstly I wanted to clear some things up about Eddie/The Symbiote and their speech patterns. Eddie's dialogue will look normal like any other character. BOLD AND ALL CAPS is the Symbiote speaking, 'THIS' is The Symbiote talking in Eddie's head. "THIS" is The Symbiote speaking out loud. Bold but not all caps is Eddie and The Symbiote speaking as one. Finally, Venom will have two forms, The Standard form will look like Flash Thomson's Agent Venom. The out of control form will look like classic Venom. I will do my best to describe both forms when they appear, but I'm putting this here just so you all have a good idea of what they look like. Also, let me know if there are any characters, (Marvel, DC,) that you would like to see in this story and I'll consider them. Finally, I'm considering pairings for Eddie. I saw one request for Ms.Martian, I personally was considering Zatanna, let me know if you guys have any preferences and I'll consider them. Feedback is always appreciated. Enjoy!*

Chapter Four: Blockbuster/What Now?

Eddie couldn't believe the situation he was in. His day had started with going to school and trying to not fall asleep with boredom in science class, and now he was in an underground facility, with a sentient slime monster in his body, talking with four superhero sidekicks. (He didn't think Superman had a sidekick, but the symbol on this guys chest was pretty easy to recognize.) Eddie and the four traded stories to get up to speed. Eddie told them about how he got here, Proffesor Hamilton and the Symbiote, a long with everything he knew about the Symbiote, mostly what Desmond told him. They told Eddie what had happened on the surface, the fire, and how they discovered the truth behind Project Cadmus, including Superboy and his creation and liberation. While Aqualad and the others were talking to Eddie, Robin was searching Cadmus' files for anything on Eddie and the Symbiote. He wanted to see if their was anything that Desmond hadn't told Eddie. Sure enough, Robin found a file, but the encryption on it was stronger than anything else he had hacked today. He knew there wasn't enough time to unlock the file, so he pulled out a USB from his utility belt, and downloaded the file to unlock later. After this, he turned his attention back to the others. "Alright, we need to keep moving. Eddie, do you think you can keep up? I know this must be hard, but-" Before Robin could continue, the Symbiote interrupted him. "WE ARE MORE THAN CAPABLE OF DEFENDING OURSELVES! I CAN GIVE EDDIE THE POWER TO FIGHT THE GENOMORPH CREATURES."

Kid Flash still got creeped out by the Symbiote, and said as much. "Okay, you are super creepy, dude."

Eddie responded, "How do you think I feel? I'm the one with it in my body!"

Aqualad took control of the conversation, knowing that time was of the essence. "I realize this is a confusing and stressful situation, but we must move now. Superboy, do you know how to get to the surface from here?"

Superboy took a moment, listening for the voice that had been guiding them, until finally it spoke. He parroted the instructions to the others. "There's a flight of stairs we need to go up. The ground level is at the top, at the end of a long hall."

Kid Flash moved the goggles that had been resting on his forehead over his eyes. "Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!" He then ran out of the room in a blur of speed. Eddie was momentarily stunned by seeing superpowers used in front of him. Of course he knew they existed, and had even seen videos of them, but never had he seen them in person! After the shock subsided, Eddie followed the others into the stairwell. There were Genomorphs waiting for them, Kid Flash was knocking them down as he sped past. Unfortunately, one of these Genomorphs was knocked in front of Eddie. Aqualad turned around and saw this, but before he could help, he himself was swarmed by a few Genomorphs. Aqualad knew he could handle them, but not in time to help Eddie.

"Eddie, get away!"

As the Genomorph leaped out to attack, eddie covered his face with his arms, bracing for impact. It was then that two black tendrils sprouted from his shoulders, smacking the Genomorph away. "What the-?"

"I TOLD YOU WE WOULD BE CAPABLE OF DEFENSE, EDDIE!"

'So'. Eddie thought. 'That's what Desmond meant by incredible abillities.'

Aqualad was glad that the Symbiote was protecting Eddie. 'Although, I suppose it is also protecting itself by proxy.'

The stairwell clear, the five boys continued to the top floor. They got to the end of the hall, only for the security doors to close in front of them, which caused Kid Flash to crash into it face first.

Aqualad and Superboy tried breaking the door down, to no avail. "We are cut off from the street"

Kid Flash quipped. "Thanks, I hadn't noticed."

Robin tried hacking, but the encription was too complicated to be done quickly, and two Genomorph Giants were closing in on them. Robin saw a nearby hallway and directed the others.

"This way!"

The five of them ran quickly, only to meet a very large gathering of Genomorphs, accompanied by Dubilex and Guardian. Before they could turn around, the stood behind them to block their way back. The five boys prepared for a fight, even Eddie was holding up his fists, albeit he was trying his hardest not to freak the fuck out. However, the G-Gnomes all used their telepathic powers to render the five unconcious. Dubilex then used his own telepathy to speak. "Perhaps, for the sake of all Genomorphs, we should allow our brother Superboy to mmake up his own mind." This message was what woke Superboy up, as he realized that the voice guiding him all this time belonged to Dubilex."It was you!"

Dubilex nodded. "Yes brother. I set the fire and lured your new friends down into Cadmus, woke them when they were in danger-"

"And guided me. Why?"

"Because you are our hope, the Genommorph hero.You will blaze a trail for all our brothers, showing us the way to freedom."

Superboy was speechless, he never realized what his freedom meant to all the other Genomorphs. "Wait, is the... what did they call it, is the Symbiote a Genomorph too? Is that why you guided me to it and Eddie?"

Dubilex looked at the unconcious Eddie. "Ah, Eddie Brock, another unfortunate player in this mission of liberation. I do believe I owe him and the Symbiote an explanation as well." Dubilex's horns glowed red, as he woke Eddie and the Symbiote up. Before the symbiote could lash out in self defense, Dubilex spoke. "Please, wait. I owe both of you an apology. To you, Symbiote, for taking so long to orchestrate your freedom, and to you Eddie Brock, for making you my pawn in said freedom."

Eddie and the Symbiote were both confused. "A pawn, what are you talking about?"

Dubilex responded. "Time is short, so I will get to the point. Although it may not remember, this is not the Symbiote's first time at Cadmus. It has been here many times, gone through many painful experiments, and been forced to bond with several different hosts, all of whom are now deceased. While the Symbiote's origin is unknown to me, and I do not believe it to be a Genomorph, I still telepathically sensed it's horrible physical and mental anguish. Just as I planned Superboy's liberation, so too did I plan the Symbiote's. However, I knew that it would never escape Cadmus alive without a host. So, I made a difficult, unforgivable choice. When I learned that Proffesor Hamilton had the Symbiote in his possession, I learned his location and arranged to be nearby. Once I had found him, I located the Symbiote and freed it from it's prison. I then disguised myself, and began searching for a suitable host for the Symbiote."

Dubilex then morphed his appearance, at first Eddie was confused, but then he recognized the form. His eyes went wide with shock.

"The janitor... it was you? But, how? And wait, doesn't that mean..."

Dubilex bowed his head in shame as his form returned to normal. "I mentally projected an illusion into the mind of anyone who saw me. And yes Eddie Brock, I did indeed know that by sending you to help Proffesor Hamilton, I was sealing your fate. I would beg your forgiveness, but I know I do not deserve it. Out of all the minds I scanned, you were the purest soul there, I knew you were a kind spirit who only wished to do good in the world, and thus would not abuse the great power the Symbiote would provide. I am truly sorry."

Eddie was speechless, he had been used from the beginning, and he honestly didn't know how to feel. While he was angry and hurt from being manipulated and essentialy having his normal life sacrificed, he couldn't bring himself to hate Dubilex or the Symbiote. Don't get him wrong, Eddie was furious with Dubilex, but he empathized with him seeing so many others in pain and wanting to help. As for the Symbiote, Eddie knew it never asked for any of this, so he couldn't be mad at it.

Dubilex woke the sidekicks up telepathically, and freed Guardian from mental control. Guardian held his head, coming back to his senses. "Feels like... a fog lifting."

Aqualad hoped that Guardian was truly himself again. "Guardian, are you...?"

Guardian realized what had happened, and was not happy to say the least. "You five get out of here, I'll deal with Desmond."

"Oh will you now?"

Everyone turned around and saw Dr.Desmond himself, holding a beaker with glowing blue liquid inside of it. "So it was you all along, Dubilex. I should have known better than to give a lowly Genomorph such high status in Cadmus. No matter. Project Blockbuster will give me the power to restore order." Desmond then drank the liquid, and the effects were immediate. He fell over in pain, his body convulsing as he groaned in pain. He soon mutated, his body growing to massive size, his very skin being shredded to make room for a rocky gray coating. Desmond had mutated into a monster, now known as Blockbuster.

Guardian charged at Blockbuster, only to be thrown to the side and knocked unconcious in one hit. Superboy hit Blockbuster with unrelenting strength, but the monster was tough enough to resist even the Kryptonian clone's punches.Blockbuster grabbed Superboy and jumped up, crashing through the cieling, getting to the ground floor.

Kid Flash quipped. "That's one way to go up a floor. You think rock-face planned that?"

Aqualad shook his head. It seemed that Blockbuster had traded his intellect for his new strength. "I doubt he is planning anything anymore."

Robin, Kid Flash, Aqualad and Eddie followed through the hole in the ceiling. Superboy was thrown into a pillar, causing it to be destroyed. Robin tried stopping Blockbuster with explosive Birdarangs, but they had no visible effect. Kid Flash tried hitting and running with his speed, but Blockbuster had surprisingly quick reaction time. Blockbuster grabbed him mid-attack and threw him into Aqualad.

Seeing Blockbuster mop the floor with the others was too much for Eddie to handle. All the stress he had built up finally exploded, causing a full on panic attack. The Symbiote sensed this, and formed a protective cocoon around him.

'EDDIE, YOU MUST CALM DOWN.'

'This is too much! How are we gonna get out of here?!'

'WE HAVE THE POWER TO-'

'Power? What power?? If metahumans and the guy who works with fucking Batman can't beat this thing, how the hell can I?? I'm no one special, I'm just... me.'

As he said this, Eddie relieved one of his best and worst memories. He was a member of his schools journalism club, and he had written an article ont the school boards recent corruption scandal. When the editor saw Eddie's work, he was impressed. He said Eddie was truly a monster with a pen, that he "Spit Venom" with every sentence. That was one of his proudest moments. His worst moment, was when he returned home. He told his father what the editor had said, hoping he would be impressed. What Eddie didn't know was his father had been drinking, and while he never laid a hand on Eddie, he didn't need to in order to crush his spirit. "Spit Venom? You ARE venom! You're poison Eddie, a horrible thing draining the life out of anything around you!" Eddie hated that memory. But the Symbiote saw the positives as much more important than the negatives.

'EXACTLY, YOU ARE EDDIE BROCK. YOU ARE A GOOD PERSON, I SENSE IT. YOU ARE CORRECT THAT ALONE YOU CANNOT DEFEAT BLOCKBUSTER, BUT IF WE BECOME ONE, WE CAN WIN TOGETHER.'

The Symbiote's belief in Eddie surprised him. They had met under less than ideal circumstances, and according to Dubilex Eddie was far from the first host the Symbiote had been paired with, yet it was Eddie Brock the Symbiote believed in. This calmed Eddie down, and filled him with a renewed sense of confidence and bravery.

'Okay, let's do this... Together!'

The cocoon then dissolved, revealing a transformed Eddie. He was now wearing a black suit of body armor. With spiked boots and shoulder pads. His entire head was covered with a black mask, while it had no visible mouth, it had two eyes outlined in white. Finally, his chest had a large white tarantula pattern on it.

Aqualad saw the figure. "Is that Eddie, or the Symbiote?"

"Both, we are one. We... are Venom!"

Eddie, now using the codename Venom, charged at Blockbuster. When Blockbuster tried swinging at them, Venom dodged by flipping around his arm. Venom wasn't sure how they knew to do that, instinct they assumed. Venom then punished Blockbuster in the face. While they weren't on Superboy's level of strength, they were certainly stronger than before. Venom knew they would need more power. As if responding to his thought, the Symbiote shape shifted his right hand into a spiked mace. "Woah! Dubilex was right, this power is incredible!"

While Venom held Blockbuster off, Robin knew that they would need to do more to take Blockbuster down. He told Aqualad, Kid Flash and Superboy his plan. They all worked together to knock down the pillars keeping the building up around Blockbuster. "Venom, throw him into the last pillar!"

"Got it!"

Venom did as instructed, and the building collapsed around them. Thankfully, the Symbiote kept Eddie safe from the rubble, and the others survived as well. Blockbuster had been defeated, pinned under the rubble.

Aqualad approached Venom. "Eddie, are you... still with us?"

Venom's mask receded into his body, revealing Eddie's face. "Yeah, it's still me. The Symbiote and I are just... connected now. I can't believe today."

Kid Flash grabbed Superboy's attention. "Hey, look. The moon!"

The five of them looked at the full moon in the sky. Enjoying the peacefully moment. They noticed a figure flying towards them and Eddie couldn't believe who it was.

Kid Flash spoke again. "And Superman! Do we keep our promises or what?"

However, it was't just Superman, the entire Justice League was with him.

Eddie noticed that none of the League looked particularly happy. "Um... is it me, or do they look pissed?"

Superman and Superboy made eye contact, and superboy showed the man of steel his torn House of El symbol, shocking Superman. Batman looked at his friend "Is that what I think it is?"

Superboy spoke loudly. "I am Superman's clone!"

Batman narrowed his eyes, forming the signature Bat-Glare at Robin. "Start talking."

And that's exactly what Robin did. He told Batman about everything. Cadmus' secret underground facilities, the Genomorphs, Superboy, Dr.Desmond/Blockbuster, even Eddie and the Symbiote. Speaking of which, while the hawks, the lanterns and Captain Atom were taking care of Blockbuster, Robin asked to privately show Batman the file he had downloaded regarding Project Symbiote. Once the file was unlocked, Batman and Robin were shocked by what they found. According to Eddie, Desmond told him it had been less than twenty four hours ince being kidnapped. He was also told that Eddie was the first host to be bonded with the Symbiote. None of this was true. Desmond's file revealed that Eddie was actually the seventh host, and that he had been taken from New York and brought to Cadmus in Washington D.C. Batman confirmed that Edward Brock had been missing for over a month. Even more disturbing, Eddie's only family member, his father, had been killed while Eddie was missing. Supposedly it was a car accident, but Batman wouldn't be surprised if there was more to it than that. To say that Eddie took the news hard would be an understatement. He was taken to The Hall of Justice by Martian Manhunter, while Batman, Flash and Aquaman grilled Superboy and the Sidekicks. Eddie looked at Martian Manhunter and asked one question.

"What now?"