"GRAAAAH—"
Venom roared as it charged toward the FEAST shelter.
Its body swung through the air, thick black tendrils erupting from its shoulders, arms, or back, snapping out with brutal force. The tips of these tendrils hardened into countless barbs, slamming into concrete walls with a resounding clang.
As stone and debris exploded outward, the monstrously powerful black form was yanked forward by its own savage strength.
Wherever Venom passed, extinguished streetlights flickered back to life, startled by the commotion. People, rubbing sleepy eyes, peered out from windows, catching only fleeting glimpses of a dark silhouette speeding into the distance.
Eddie Brock's heart was consumed by hatred, and with the symbiote bonded to him, that hatred transformed into raw savagery and madness.
From the Kosciuszko Bridge straight toward the FEAST shelter, Venom moved in a relentless line, heedless of towering buildings or bustling streets.
When it encountered an office building, it didn't hesitate—it smashed straight through the wall, emerging moments later on the other side, leaving a cascade of shattered glass in its wake.
The FEAST shelter was always brightly lit at night.
Its residents lived with inverted schedules—idle during the day, but at night, they gathered to listen to Martin Li's speeches and words of comfort.
Tonight, however, Martin Li wasn't there. He had told everyone, just ten minutes earlier, that he had to step out briefly for an errand.
The shelter's motley inhabitants—homeless wanderers, beggars, undocumented immigrants, and the unemployed—didn't scatter despite Martin Li's absence. They were accustomed to sleepless nights, sitting in their usual spots, whispering among themselves.
Eddie Brock's spot was empty. A few unemployed men sitting nearby muttered to each other:
"Where's Eddie gone?"
"He hasn't shown up all night. Maybe he left this place for good?"
"Good riddance. A few days ago, he was sitting next to me, and I couldn't even look him in the eye… his gaze was terrifying."
"Yeah…"
BOOM!
Mid-conversation, a deafening crash echoed from the shelter's roof, as if something massive had slammed into it.
The roof of the former clothing store, now converted into the shelter, cracked in a web of fractures. Dust and debris rained down.
"What was that?!" someone shouted, staring up at the ceiling in panic.
No one had an answer. They exchanged bewildered glances, unsure what had landed above them.
"Grrgh…"
A guttural sound, like a voice torn from a ruined throat, growled through the air.
A beggar near the window mustered the courage to open it. Before he could poke his head out, a black head appeared upside-down at the window's edge—eyes twisted unnaturally upward and outward, a maw filled with jagged teeth, and a long, drooling tongue.
"Oh, a head."
Venom seized the beggar, stuffed his head into its mouth, and with a sickening crunch, bit it clean off. It tossed the headless body aside and slithered through the window into the shelter's interior.
"GRAH—WHERE IS MARTIN LI?!"
Venom's voice seemed to vomit every ounce of malice it carried. It glared at the terrified crowd, now scattering in panic, and roared.
"Not here?" Its long tongue swayed at its chest. "Then I'll tear this shelter apart until he shows himself!"
The screams of the shelter's residents mingled with Venom's roars, piercing the night sky.
A few blocks away, in a dead-end alley, Mister Negative hung up his phone, his face dark with fury as he glared at Schulmann.
"This is your plan? Lure me out here while you destroy my shelter?"
Schulmann's face was a mix of fear and confusion. "What shelter?"
Mister Negative stepped forward, seizing Schulmann by the collar with one hand while the other rummaged through his clothing. Soon, he found a listening device tucked into a seam at Schulmann's shoulder, then another strange gadget at his waist that Mister Negative didn't recognize.
Moments later, he held four bugs and five tiny trackers in his hand.
Crunch!
He crushed all nine devices into pieces, sneering at Schulmann with a chilling laugh. "You've been used, Schulmann."
"Batman used you as bait to draw me out, while he goes to wreak havoc at FEAST."
The call Mister Negative had received was from a trusted aide at the FEAST shelter. According to them, a monstrously strong creature was rampaging through the shelter, indiscriminately destroying everything. The aide suspected it was the infamous "Batman" who had been the talk of New York.
"Batman?" Schulmann was thrown into a panic. He knew better than anyone whether he'd collaborated with Batman.
Heaven and earth could bear witness: since Batman had captured him last night, they'd barely exchanged five sentences. Tonight, Batman had simply grabbed him and tossed him out.
He might have been used, but he hadn't struck any deal with Batman. Schulmann hurried to explain, "I… maybe you're right, I was used, but I swear I didn't work with Batman, Mister Negative!"
"Spare me, please! My skills are worth far more to you alive than dead. Please, stay calm!"
He feared that a single misstep would lead to Mister Negative killing him without hesitation.
Mister Negative stared at Schulmann coldly, saying nothing. He turned and rushed toward the FEAST shelter.
Schulmann let out a sigh of relief. He'd escaped death—for now. Mister Negative still needed his technical expertise.
Unbeknownst to either of them, another listening device, hidden in the zipper of Schulmann's clothes, was still transmitting everything to Batman's Arkham suit.
"FEAST?"
Batman, now racing toward Martin Li's shelter, mentally sorted through the information he'd overheard.
"The bugs I left at the shelter didn't pick up Martin Li's voice, but the conversation between Mister Negative and Schulmann explicitly mentioned FEAST."
"Mister Negative is Martin Li's other identity. So who's tearing up the shelter right now?"
Batman knew tonight would likely be another grueling fight. His enemies weren't just Mister Negative but also an unknown entity.
The new Batmobile wasn't assembled yet, so Batman sprinted at full speed. Peter Parker's rigorously trained body was now hurtling toward Queens at over 220 kilometers per hour.
Moving in a straight line, Batman reached the FEAST shelter faster than Mister Negative, who was only a few blocks away.
Venom was in the midst of its rampage. Batman didn't pause to lurk in the shadows and observe.
Spotting the towering black figure, over two meters tall, he maintained his breakneck speed, raised his elbow, and slammed into it like an overclocked car.
WHAM!
With a massive thud, Batman and Venom crashed through the shelter's wall, tumbling relentlessly into the garden behind it.
"SSSHHH—"
Amid an unsettling hiss, Batman faced a creature unlike the Hulk or the Lizard. It rose slowly from the ground, its gaping maw stretching ear to ear, filled with razor-sharp teeth. Its hollow, pure-white eyes glowed with an eerie malevolence, and a grotesquely long, slime-covered tongue dangled from its jagged teeth, swaying in the air.
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