Watching the black monster's jaws drip with viscous green fluid, Ethan quietly took a step back.
That liquid was the symbiote's waste—a byproduct expelled whenever it broke down foreign matter within its body.
Raising his right hand, the coils on the Hulkbuster began to hum faintly. Without a trace of fear, Ethan faced the towering black creature and said evenly,
"Venom, I know the man inside you is filthy and cruel—but you need to calm down. Don't let him take control."
"No! No no no! You imprisoned us! You experimented on us! We hate you!"
Venom gave no sign of calming down. It let out another furious roar and slashed at the Hulkbuster with its razor-sharp claws, the strike swift and vicious.
The armor's rear thrusters flared blue in an instant, pushing it several meters backward. Venom's claws ripped through the stretcher instead, shredding it to metal shards that clattered across the floor.
"Venom… that's Venom!"
At the doorway, Walter adjusted his glasses with trembling fingers, whispering in awe. He'd seen this supervillain in documentaries and archival footage—but to witness it in person, fighting the Hulkbuster of all things?
This was a once-in-a-lifetime sight.
"Well, if you won't listen to reason…"Ethan muttered coldly. "Then we'll do this the hard way."
The armor's massive arm swung up. From its sonic cannon burst a wave of concentrated sound—visible, tangible, like a tidal surge of air pressure.
The blast slammed into Venom head-on, hurling the nearly three-meter-tall monster back over ten meters. It shrieked in agony, black liquid rippling violently over its body in chaotic waves.
High-frequency sound—one of the symbiote's natural weaknesses.
But this host was no ordinary man—he was a Super Soldier. Though some of Venom's energy went into keeping him alive, the enhancement still gave them terrifying resilience.
Slowly, the monster began to resist the sonic pressure. Its long, serpentine tongue lashed wildly as it crawled forward, muscles convulsing under the assault.
Ethan watched without emotion. This reaction, too, was part of his calculation—he hadn't even turned the sonic cannon to full power.
Keeping his right hand trained on the creature,Ethan retracted the flamethrower on his other arm. A small glass vial popped from a compartment in his palm.
Condensation beaded on the surface—it had just come from a cryogenic chamber. Inside the vial, a small mass of black liquid swirled slowly, almost alive.
This universe's timeline was… chaotic. Events like House of M and World War Hulk had never occurred, yet traces of Original Sin—which came afterward—had.
There was a being known as The Orb—aptly named, for his head was a giant, bloodshot eyeball. He could see things others could not, such as when someone intended to kill him.
He could fire lasers from his eye and had slightly above-average physical strength. More disturbingly, he could "see" through his dreams—sometimes even observing the Watchers' base on the Moon.
During the 2014 Original Sin event, one of the Watcher's eyes fused with The Orb's chest, amplifying his sight a hundredfold.
Why mention him? Because, in the Wastelands 45 Years Later arc, Hawkeye found The Orb—with that very Watcher's eye embedded in his chest.
According to The Orb's own account, he had already possessed the eye before the "Day of the Fallen Heroes." He never revealed how.
So if the Watcher's Eye could appear earlier than it should in this timeline… what else—or who else—might appear ahead of schedule?
With that thought in mind, Ethan had searched Baron Zemo's warehouse. Red Skull, desperate to recreate the Super Soldier Serum, had dumped all remnants of old American research into Zemo's hands—mechanical necro-locks, Project Rebirth blueprints, even fragments from Project Pegasus.
Now Ethan finally held what he wanted.
He turned up the sonic intensity. The roar of sound filled the chamber, a crushing resonance that made Walter and the other technicians cry out, clutching their ears as they stumbled out of the room.
Venom screamed, its body convulsing violently as the black substance peeled back in ragged patches, exposing the human host beneath.
The man—naked and trembling—looked terrible but alive. His face twisted in pain, yet his mind hadn't shattered.
Still firing the sonic blast,Ethan calmly approached, unflinching before the writhing monster. Venom's gaping maw snapped open, rows of ivory fangs glinting, its tongue flailing like a whip.
It tried to lunge, but under the sonic assault, its arm moved sluggishly—as if pushing through molasses.
The black substance churned madly, battling to keep control.
Ethan tossed the glass vial straight into Venom's open mouth—then drove a brutal kick into its chest.
The monster was blasted backward, a black comet slamming into the wall with a thunderous crash that shook the entire chamber. The wall caved inward, debris scattering.
Ethan powered down the sonic cannon.
From the crater, Venom slowly rose—smoke curling from its body. Despite the blow, it refused to yield. Its stark white eyes glared with fury as it pointed one clawed finger at Ethan.
It opened its mouth to snarl a threat—then suddenly clutched its head and chest, screaming in raw torment.
"WHAT DID YOU FEED US?!"
Ethan's voice remained calm, detached. "You see, the Project Pegasus team kept a wide range of biological samples. Among them was a cell imprint—a backup specimen. Their only real achievement after decades of mediocrity."
Venom writhed on the floor, thrashing violently. "W-We… we…"
After several agonizing seconds, it began to rise again—but it was… changing.
Its jagged maw and serpentine tongue retracted, morphing into a smooth mask-like face. The once pure-white eyes condensed into narrow ovals, with black pupils at the center—eerily human, yet not.
The symbiote's surface rippled, reshaping itself into the illusion of clothing—a white utility belt, holsters, and faint armor lines across its chest. Tiny spikes emerged along its shoulders.
Venom trembled again, then reached instinctively toward its waist, as if drawing a pair of pistols. Its hands were empty, but the motion was so fluid, so natural—it was muscle memory.
And then, in a voice layered with pain and conviction, the man within shouted,
"Ross! Get X-23 out of here! Warn the Avengers—and the X-Men! Everyone you can reach! I'll hold them off!"
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