Chapter 9:
She stood there...eeriely creepy with an eerie smile staring right at N. Uzi, Thad, and N were all having creepy suspicions about her but N decided to take the lead considering he was the main focus.
N: Hey, Doll...you okay?
She only nodded and still smiles.
N: Is there something you need to talk about?
She nodded once again with the same eerie smile. N was connecting the dots and knew what this was going to be about.
N: Uzi, Thad, look around the Outpost to make sure there's no other unwelcomed guests around. Once I catch up with you, we'll head to the emergency spot.
Uzi: N, Hold on-
N: Please, Uzi...Trust me.
Uzi had that doubtful pissed off look but took a breather then nodded at N's request as she and Thad left, only leaving N with Doll.
N: What do you want, Doll? What's going on?
Doll: Ты - Теневой демон. (You are the Shadow Demon.)
N: Yeah...I am. Everyone pretty much knows it now...
Doll: У вас есть симбионт, и его зовут Веном. (You have a symbiote and his name is Venom.)
Venom: Impossible.
N: *eyes widened* H-How do you know that? Everyone except Uzi only knows him as the Shadow Demon.
Doll: Мы не так уж сильно отличаемся друг от друга. (We are not so different from each other.)
N: We? Who's...*gasps in realization* No...You're not...
Doll only smiled as yellow liquid spewed out from her just like when N transforms to Venom. Doll disappeared from clear sight as the yellow and red symbiote stood at 9 feet in front of N, displaying a muscular, feminine figure, razor sharp claws, and long red dreadlocks that were like Venoms' tentacles. Her face looked just like Venom as well with its jagged eyes and sharp teeth.
This is the symbiote known as Scream.
And N just realized that this was the symbiote that attacked V, filling him with rage.
Scream: *snarls* Hello, N. I am Scream, the symbiote beneath Doll.
N: T-That's impossible!...A-Another- Y-You...
Scream: Is it? Did you really believe you and Venom were the only Symbiote Drone on this planet. Where is he?
N hesitated at first but took a heavy sigh afterwards before letting Venom take over as the symbiote now emerged in its full form as well and the two Symbiotes were now face to face.
Venom: What are you doing here?
Scream: I could ask the same thing about you? Why did you crash to this planet?
Venom: To find someone with a virus turned power known as the Absolute Solver and to assist them in defeating the original Solver that wants to take over.
Scream: You know about the Absolute Solver as well?
N: Don't tell them it's Uzi! We don't know what they are truly up to!
Venom: *growls* Yes, but we have not found the Solver user yet.
Scream: Who is the one coming after the Absolute Solver?
Venom: The one they call, Cyn. N has described that she is the one that created the Disassembly Drones and have sent them here. They are not here just to scrap these drones, they are here to find the Solver users, bring them back to her, and finish them so she can become more powerful than ever before.
Scream: *hisses* Powerful...like him?
Doll: кто он? (Who is He?)
N: Like who?
Venom: Perhaps. We are not sure but we are investigating more and right now there was strange activity where I faced off against those killer bots.
Scream: I see. *Thinks with Doll* Let us join you.
N: I don't trust them. Doll with a symbiote as well and also looking for the solver user which happens to be Uzi, Venom we can't.
Venom: Hmmmm. What's your deal?
Scream: There is no need for us to fight. We are both going for the same thing and two symbiotes drones are better than one. I have seen what these drones are capable of and how well they can adapt to working with me. Especially if Doll is much like her mother.
Venom: *eyes widened* Y-Yeva...Is she-
Scream: *growls in anger* Dead! Those killer bots ambushed our home and killed Yeva and her husband while I protected Doll. I tried to fight but Yeva held me back and told me to protect Doll! I could have killed them and none of this would have happened...but Doll's parents only had one purpose in mind and that was for her daughter to be safe and protected.
Venom stumbled a bit and looked down in pain from hearing the news that his only friend in this planet...was now dead. The only being that approached Venom, welcoming and respecting him was now gone. N sensed the pain within Venom and didn't believe Symbiotes could also feel. He didn't even know that Venom knew Doll's mother.
Scream: Please / Doll: пожалуйста (Please.)
Venom: Hmm *thinks* / N: *sighs* Okay...she can come with us but if something goes off then I am going to fight them.
Scream: Deal?
Venom: *nods* For Yeva.
Both symbiotes nodded in agreement before reverting back to N and Doll who bowed at N as a thank you for having them help out. N wasn't 100% confident in all of this especially with Venom knowing about Scream but he just hoped luck would be on their side.
N: No funny business, okay? Our symbiotes may have struck a deal but between you and me, I'm not confident in this.
Doll: Я обещаю. (I promise)
/ / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /
The two made their way in catching up with Uzi and Thad. Uzi looked over at N with a confused and doubtful look but N just signaled her to let it go for the time being but to keep a close eye on Doll.
N: Did you find anything?
Uzi: Yeah...lots of leaking...
Uzi moved her flashlight over to a dark spot of the hallway to find oil all over the floor as if a slaughter had happened in the shadows. Doll approached over without any concern and took a better look at the oil leakage, giving N and Uzi time to privately chat.
Uzi: What happened back there with you and Doll?
N: *sighs* A lot...
Uzi: Does she know something that we don't?
N: *nods slowly and leans close* She has a symbiote. She's the one that attacked V.
Uzi's eyes widened, slowly looking over at the silent drone that would always be hanging out with the cool kids including Thad and Liz. She didn't expect that the Russian drone would also have a monster inside her but she can tell that they bond together whereas N and Venom are two complete opposites, a Dr. Jerkyll and Mr. Hyde situation, a Bruce Banner and the Hulk situation.
Doll: *walks back to them* Это несколько тел. (It's multiple bodies.)
Uzi: Then this is something far worse than a creepy crawler lurking around.
N: Best place to look is the emergency shelter, let's go.
The four moved together as a group heading towards the emergency shelter area and looked around of what was left from the carnage that Venom left against the Disassembly Drones. Flashes of the fight struck N's mind which caused him to stumble a bit but Uzi approached him for comfort.
Uzi: Hey...try to cool down.
N: *sighs* Let's keep moving.
Unbeknownst to the four of them, they were being watched from the darkness while they spot what looked to be an EXE. File marked around the place especially on containers.
Uzi: "AbsoluteSolver"? "Reboot"? *Looks at N* Any suggestions?
N: One theory could be this is how they regenerate their limbs back. You saw that Venom ate V's head and a few minutes later, her head was grown back. Which means for J, there's a possibility the same happened. However, it still draws back to our main concern and objective, the Solver.
Venom: N! We can sense something. We are not alone in here.
Scream: Кукла, будь готова. Здесь что-то есть. (Doll, be ready. Something is in here.)
Uzi: New material can't be pulled from thin air. If the wound is severe enough, this solver might be some sort of auto-run program to collect more mat-
Uzi got immediately shut by N before noticing him alongside a trembling Thad and silent Doll watched as a human hand emerged from the shadows.
A human hand followed by a long extension of a drone arm was crawling around and searching what was nearby. N slowly switched his arm for a missile blaster and shot right up in the air, only for the explosion to reveal a large centipede like creature.
None of them however, noticed that Thad was grabbed by the hand and began to drag him back in the shadows-
SLASH!
And dropped to the ground immediately alongside Thad as both girls looked at N who had a ninja star with him and was the cause for Thad's release.
Uzi: I want a frickin' ninja star!
Doll: Осторожно! (Look Out!)
The three were hit being a giant force that looked like a part of the centipede eldritch before grabbing Thad successfully and dragging him away in the dark.
N: *grunts* You good?
Uzi: *scoffs* Stop asking! Symbiote Time?
N: No!...Not yet, at least...
Uzi: Theeeen, Chainsaw hand time?
N: Yeah, cool-cool-cool. *Activates my chainsaws*
The three follow the trail where Thad was taken which takes them through the Cyrosleep area and heard Thad scream before being met with a hologram version of him, already giving the three an off feeling about this.
Hologram Thad: Yes and hello, it's me, Ted. Can I get a location? I heard dentist's office. I'm sat at the dentist's office. Come over here for your, teeth.
Uzi: *pulls out my railgun* Predictably terrible work, J. Why do you look so-
N: Great! *Looks at Uzi then the hologram* You look great, J!
Hologram Thad: No, wait guys, it's really me! *Voice glitches* Is that a freakin' ninja star?
N pulls out multiple ninja stars that he built over time and threw them all instantly, cutting and ripping through various parts of the eldritch and saving Thad from a fatal death.
Thad: Lifesavers again. Thanks. Super invited to my shindig next weekend. Cool kids only.
N: Thad, go get the others and alert them of the situation while we handle J!
Thad nodded and made his leave as Eldritch J made her full reveal which a terrifying, disturbing centipede like monster with J's hair wig as the three stood together ready to fight this monster.
Eldritch J: We're busy then anyway, so whatever, so lame.
Uzi: What's with the voice, J?
Eldritch J: Oh, J's not here. We are trying to repair that host as per our directive.
Uzi: So you are a program?
Eldritch J: More like, you are our cute puppets.
Eldritch J decided to strike a nerve on both Doll and Uzi by displaying holographic copies of their mothers, Yeva and Nori, holding baby Doll and Uzi with their eyes displaying the symbol of the Absolute Solver.
Eldritch J: It hurts our feelings you don't remember us.
Uzi: N? What's with the mom hologram?
Doll: *clutches my fist* Ты заплатишь за то, что сделал с моими родителями! (You will pay for what you did to my parents!)
N: ENOUGH! You wouldn't leave us alone, we'll make sure you stay dead this time.
Eldritch J: Easier to assimilate than explain.
N: Uzi...when we transform...Run!
Eldritch J charged forward while Doll and N both transforms into their respective symbiotes: Scream and Venom, leaving a completely shocked Uzi at the sight in front of her.
Two monsters standing in front of her but she also noticed the difference with their hosts as Doll transformed into Scream like a tag team switch while N transformed into Venom like a monster coming out.
Uzi: Holy Robo-Jesus...
Venom and Scream roared at Eldritch J and charged right at her as well with all three in an all-out monster brawl. Uzi was to follow their instructions and leave but at the same time...This was Cool AF! And so, Uzi went into hiding by the cyrosleep pods to watch the fight between the Symbiotes and Eldritch J.
Just like the differences when the Symbiotes would transform, their fighting style were also different. Scream being aggressive but tactical, skillful, and agile while Venom fought in full brute force. Eldritch J was able to land a few strikes but not knowing exactly what these monsters were made it difficult to fully fight back when it's 2 on 1.
Eldritch J decided to lunge one of its raptorial claws on Scream, only for the Russian Symbiote to rip it off, absorb it, then transform her arm into one of its own raptorial claw.
Eldritch J: Wait, Whaaaat?!
Scream lunged forward, striking and cutting through the many limbs of Eldritch J while Venom continued going right for the main part of her which was the head. It was now riding the Eldritch in hopes to drag it down and rip it apart. The Eldritch tried everything in its power and abilities to fight back. Scream lunged her red dreads around the head of Eldritch J which they had enough and dragged both Symbiotes into the darkness
Uzi got out slowly and looked up at the dark space, only hearing the continuous battle between the Symbiote Drones and the Eldritch. She heard something appear from behind and pointed her railgun, only to see the Eldritch with Uzi's father, locking her in a state of shock and horror.
Uzi: *eyes widened* W-Whoa! D-DAD?!
Eldritch J: Easier to assimilate than explain. Goodbye, Dad.
Uzi: NO!
Uzi could only reach her hand out as she witnessed her father get ripped in half, oil spewing all over the floor while Eldritch J tore up and ate Khan's upper half leaving Uzi completely frozen.
Eldritch J: Time to eat More!
The Eldritch lunged around Uzi, only be blasted from above as N came down from the same dark spot before using his chainsaws as well to slice the extra limbs of Eldritch J.
N: Uzi, shoot! Or give it to me!
Eldritch J: Close one! Snarl.
N: Uzi, you good?
Uzi: No. I...I can't...
Uzi handed the railgun over to N, except...
It was a hologram by Eldritch J!
Eldritch J: Pranked, idiot! You big stupid. *Grabs Uzi's head* Lucky for you, it's snack time. Time to go into my mouth now.
Still in that frozen state, Uzi could only feel her core shaking up and her body twitching out of control.
ROOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAARRRRRRR!
From the same darkness spot, Venom lunged right on Eldritch J and lunged her around the Cyrosleep. Venom looked over to see a terrified Uzi which angered the symbiote even more before breaking a pod and using it as a weapon to keep Eldritch J down. At the same time, the red dreads emerged from the darkness as well and wrapped around Eldritch J's body as Scream flung towards the other side and pulled the Eldritch, leaving the centipede like monster wide open for a final blow. Venom noticed and used one last piece of the used Cyrosleep pod to slice Eldritch J in half.
The Eldritch has been slayed by the Symbiotes and it wasn't even close! But the damage was already done when both Venom and Scream approached a traumatized Uzi. Venom instantly noticed and reverted back to N. Before he could say anything, he noticed the lighting of the room change from the dark room to bright red. They all looked and saw Uzi's railgun overheating which meant it was going to explode!
Scream lunged into the dark and disappears while N grabbed Uzi and flew right out of the cyrosleep room as the railgun explodes, causing the entire Outpost to shake like an earthquake has occurred.
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A few minutes later, N and Uzi recover from the impact and looked back as the smoke clears out with no sign of Eldritch J's body meaning she was fully dead for good.
Uzi: What was-Which parts of that were real?
N: Anything that had to do with me and Doll as Venom and Scream. *Looks at her worried* What did they do?...
N reached his hand out to Uzi to help her up, but she immediately backed away in horror which also terrified N.
Uzi: W-What are you things?
N's eyes widened but felt like his soul left his body when Uzi said that. After time of talking, bonding, and forming a friendship, perhaps a little more, Uzi shattered all of that as she looked at N with fear which made N look at himself before letting Venom take over once again.
N: A Monster.
At the same time, multiple footsteps were heard approaching them as multiple Worker Drones including Thad and Khan arrived to see the wreckage that was made and only Uzi in sight. The Symbiote Drone was nowhere to be found while Uzi slowly got up and approached her father.
Khan: Uzi? What are you doing-
Uzi immediately went to her father for a strong hug, feeling him was enough to know that it was all just a sick mind game Eldritch J displayed and unfortunately, she succeeded.
Khan hugged her daughter back in relief while other Worker Drones continued to inspect the sight. Khan looked around and saw a glimpse of a shadow figure watching them. For it was Venom watching over them before climbing up while Khan watched on, grateful yet concerned.
Uzi slowly looked back to see no sight of Venom or N at all as the guilt was slowly building on her but for right now...she just wanted to close her eyes forever. The same can go for N, after years of isolating himself because of the monster he was, he truly believed things would change for the better.
He was very wrong and now understood that this was his fate since the beginning...As for Venom, he understood that N would perhaps want to stay in the darkness for a while as he continued climbing and jumping through different sections across the Outpost to reach the roof and running across it before jumping into the snowy, cold night, wings fully opened and roaring through the sky for all of Copper-9 to hear his roar once again.
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They made it back home as Venom changed back to N who was silent and soulless from the look on his face. As if everything reverted back to how things were in the beginning when he crashed onto this planet.
N: I'm...sorry about your friend...
Venom: Yeva was the only one that saw me as my true self and welcomed me with open arms. I need to know more of what exactly happened to her.
N: And her daughter having a Symbiote that once belonged to her as well.
Venom: She did not tell me that nor could I sense that Scream was a part of her. N, after everything that happened tonight, we are now in a web full of clues to find more information about the Solver.
N: *walks inside* Maybe tomorrow...maybe next week...I don't know...I just want to close my eyes forever...
N's first order of business was to check his lovely garden and making sure everything was still good. As he entered the room, his eyes widened in realization that someone else was here and here she was, looking at the lovely plants.
N: V...
V: *looks over* N...
V got up immediately, slowly displaying a bit of her old, shy self-approaching N but she noticed the look on his face that he wasn't okay. He looked tired...and defeated. And in return, she gave him a long-needed hug from both sides. N only closed his eyes and returned the hug with V.
He wanted all of this to end.