Gotham City
In the middle of Gotham's rusted junkyard, a seventeen-year-old boy sat on the hood of a totaled car, cigarette glowing in the dark. Eddie Brock dragged in a breath, wincing as the bruise around his eye pulsed.
"Damn drunk hits hard," he muttered, brushing ash off his jacket. "Congrats, Dad. New record."
The yard was silent except for distant sirens and the hum of the city. Eddie leaned back, staring at the night sky which is the one of the only places in Gotham that didn't feel like it hated him.
A shooting star cut across the clouds.
"Yeah," Eddie scoffed, "I wish I had a friend." He flicked the cigarette away. "But who am I kidding? My attitude scares off pretty much everyone."
The star kept getting brighter.
Then brighter.
Eddie's eyes widened. "…Wait."
The "star" roared overhead, tearing the air apart before slamming into the junkyard behind him. The shockwave threw Eddie off his feet and into a pile of scrap.
Groaning, he pushed himself up and stumbled toward the crater.
At the center was a black rock.
He crouched and touched it and it was cold and completely still.
"…Weird," Eddie mumbled, shrugging it off. "Whatever. I'm done for tonight."
He turned and walked out of the yard, not noticing the small trail of black liquid that latched onto his boot and crept upward, quiet and alive.
Timeskip
Eddie pushed open the apartment door as quietly as he could but it did not matter because a beer bottle came flying the second he stepped inside.
He ducked on instinct and glass exploded against the wall behind him.
"Where the hell have you been?" Norman Brock roared from his recliner, half-drunk and half-conscious, the TV flickering over his sunken face. "I said be home an hour ago!"
Eddie kept his eyes down. "I-I was just at the yard, I…."
He didn't finish because Norman lurched from the chair and drove a fist into Eddie's stomach.
The air shot out of Eddie's lungs as he collapsed to his knees.
"You useless waste of sperm!" his father spat, breath reeking of alcohol. "Walking disappointment! Can't do ONE damn thing right!"
Eddie didn't argue and didn't defend himself.
He didn't look up because experience had taught him that silence made it end faster.
Norman shoved him aside and staggered back to his chair, grabbing a fresh bottle from the floor. Within seconds, he'd forgotten Eddie existed.
Gritting his teeth, Eddie dragged himself down the hallway, one hand gripping the wall for support. Every breath hurt, but none of it surprised him.
He slipped into his small, dim room and shut the door gently like he was afraid even the sound would provoke another attack. He collapsed onto his mattress, staring at the cracked ceiling.
"Just… one night of peace," he whispered.
His eyes fluttered shut and he didn't notice the black goo crawling slowly up his pant leg.
Didn't feel it spreading across his back like a living shadow.
Didn't hear the soft, wet sound as the symbiote expanded, stretching, growing, exploring.
Within minutes, the inky creature flowed over his chest, his arms, his throat and cocooning him in darkness.
Eddie slept on, unaware.
Until the last moment, when the symbiote sealed over his face and a voice echoed inside his skull.
"Breathe… Eddie…"
Next Morning
Eddie's alarm exploded to life at 6:00 a.m.
BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.
Eddie groaned and slapped around blindly until he found the clock and smacked it into silence. His whole body felt… heavy. Sore. Like he'd run a marathon in his sleep.
He pushed himself upright, rubbing his eyes.
His clothes were shredded. His sheets were twisted like he'd been fighting in them. But he didn't remember anything.
Eddie stumbled into the bathroom and flicked on the light.
"God… I look like crap," he muttered.
The mirror didn't disagree with his dirty blonde hair all over the place, blue eyes bloodshot, bruises blooming across his ribs and jaw from the night before. He splashed water on his face and reached for his comb.
He worked through his hair slowly, pushing the waves back into something halfway presentable.
It didn't help much because he still looked like a blonde hurricane.
He leaned closer to the mirror.
"…The hell happened last night?"
His reflection stared back at him and he looked tired, bruised and angry.
Then a low, wet whisper crawled through his skull.
"Edddieee…"
Eddie froze.
His hand trembled around the comb.
"…What?"
He swallowed hard. "Man, I really need to stop skipping sleep."
He turned away from the mirror.
"Eddie Brock."
The voice wasn't in the room.
It wasn't behind him.
It was inside him.
Eddie's breath caught in his throat.
"Okay. Nope. Nope, I'm losing it."
A cold sensation slid down his spine like something was moving under his skin.
"Do not be afraid…"
The voice was smooth now.
"…We are here to protect you."
Eddie slammed back against the counter, eyes wide.
"WHAT and who the hell is 'we'?!" he shouted in panic.
In the mirror behind him, for half a second, a black ripple spread across his shoulder like ink alive.
The voice chuckled.
"We… are your friend."
Eddie's heart pounded so hard he felt dizzy.
"Friend?" he whispered. "What are you?"
A tendril of black slid briefly across his collarbone beneath his shirt, retreating just as fast.
"We are Venom."
Eddie slammed into the wall, clutching the sink like it was the only solid thing left in the world.
"Stop! Stop talking! Get out of my head!"
Eddie's breath echoed in the tiny bathroom.
Then Eddie hears.
"We cannot leave."
"No, nope hell no" Eddie shook his head violently, fingers digging into his scalp as if he could tear the voice out. "This…this is a nightmare. I got hit too hard yesterday. I'm concussed. I'm hearing..."
"Us."
The voice corrected gently.
"You are hearing us."
Eddie's heartbeat hammered against his ribs.
"Shut up!" he snapped. "Don't correct me! What even are you?! Some…some hallucination? Some brain-damage ghost?!"
A ripple of black moved under his skin.
Eddie gasped and backed toward the door.
"We are not a ghost, Eddie."
"THEN WHAT ARE YOU?!" he yelled, voice cracking. "What did you do to me?!"
For a moment, the voice softened still deep, still alien, but almost… reassuring.
"We saved you."
"Saved me?" Eddie barked out a bitter laugh. "From WHAT? My life already sucks, but at least it was my life!"
The voice vibrated through him, steady and certain:
"Not anymore."
Eddie's hands shook and his chest rose and fell too fast then he whispered, "Why me?"
For the first time, the voice didn't boom or bite.
"Because you were alone."
Eddie's breath stopped.
"And you wished… for a friend."
His knees nearly buckled.
That shooting star.
That stupid whispered wish.
He thought no one heard.
But something had.
Eddie stared into the mirror, watching a faint black vein darken along his throat before fading.
"Are… are you gonna hurt me?" he asked, barely audible.
The voice answered without hesitation:
"Never. We protect Eddie. Eddie protects us."
Eddie's breath hitched.
"We… protect Eddie?" he repeated, voice cracking. "Eddie protects us? What the hell does that even mean?"
The bathroom light flickered again once then twice then finally steadied.
In the mirror, Eddie watched his own wide eyes staring back at him. His hair was forgotten as he pressed both palms to the sink. His heartbeat thundered in his ears.
A ripple moved under the skin of his shoulder like something alive.
A tendril of black eased out from beneath the collar of his shirt, just enough to be seen, just enough to make him freeze.
"We protect Eddie," the voice repeated like someone speaking inside his skull and right beside him. "Eddie keeps us alive. Eddie is strong. Eddie is… ours."
"O-ours? Nope. No. No, no, no," Eddie stammered, backing up so fast he nearly slipped on the bathroom tile. "I'm not…this isn't….You can't just show up in my head and say something creepy like ours!"
"You are frightened. We understand."
Then a pause.
"But you should not fear us."
"Oh yeah?" Eddie barked, hands flying up. "Because usually when a voice starts narrating inside my skull, it means something is wrong! Like seriously wrong! Like 'go to the ER immediately' wrong!"
The tendril slid back beneath his shirt like a retreating shadow.
"We chose you," Venom said. "Because you are hurting. Because you are angry. Because you fight to survive." Another pulse beneath Eddie's ribs, as gentle as a heartbeat that wasn't his. "We are here to help. Eddie protects us… and we will protect Eddie."
Eddie felt his mouth go dry.
"Protect me from what?"
Then, softly almost reverently:
"From the world that tries to break you."
Eddie stood frozen, chest rising and falling, the reality of whatever this was closing in around him.
"…Okay," he whispered shakily, swallowing hard. "You and I we're gonna have to set some rules."
A low purr of amusement vibrated through him.
"We look forward to it."
Eddie rubbed his face with both hands, trying to steady his breathing.
"Okay… okay. If you're gonna be living in my head rent-free, we need to talk." He pointed at the mirror as if scolding a roommate. "Abilities. Weaknesses. All that comic-book stuff. I need to know what you can do and what can kill me."
A low rumble echoed through his skull and it was irritated and impossible to tell.
"We are strong," Venom said."Much stronger than your fragile human body. We enhance you… speed, strength, vision, endurance. We repair what is broken."
Eddie felt a warm ripple under his skin, like a second heartbeat traveling down his arm.
"Enhance?" Eddie asked. "Like… how much?"
"Enough to crush your enemies."
A beat.
"Enough to survive."
Eddie flinched.
"Okay, you really gotta stop saying creepy stuff like that in a reassuring tone."
The Venom chuckled again.
He exhaled. "And weaknesses? You gotta have some, right? That's how this usually works."
A faint static hum crept into Eddie's ears.
"Sound," Venom growled. "High frequencies. They hurt us."
A tiny twitch danced beneath Eddie's jaw, like Venom recoiling just from mentioning it. "Fire also… displeases us."
"Displeases," Eddie repeated flatly. "Like a bad Yelp review? Or like… kills us?"
"Both," Venom replied.
Eddie pinched the bridge of his nose.
"So I'm walking around with a superpowered shadow monster that can get taken out by a campfire sing-along. Great."
A tendril briefly pressed against his ribs from the inside a warning ot Annoyance? Eddie couldn't tell.
"We are not a monster," Venom said, voice dropping to something sharp and cold. "We are a survivor. Like you."
Eddie swallowed hard.
"…Right. Okay. Survivors. Sure."
He pushed a hand back through his blond hair which is still somewhat neat from styling, though now damp from stress.
"So you make me stronger… and in return, I protect you from loud noise and open flames." He raised an eyebrow at the mirror. "Anything else I should know? Like… can you control me? Take over? Possess me?"
Then Venom said "Only if you let us."
Eddie's stomach flipped.
"W-Why would I ever let you?"
"Because," Venom murmured, "when the time comes… you will want to."
A chill crawled slowly down Eddie's spine.
Eddie left the bathroom with his nerves still buzzing, the voice in his head lingering like static. He crossed his room, kicking aside a pile of dirty clothes, and pulled his Gotham Academy uniform off the hanger. Crisp white shirt. Gray slacks. Blue blazer with the gold crest. He stared at it like it belonged to someone else.
"Still don't know how the hell I got in a school like this," Eddie muttered, buttoning his shirt crooked at first, then fixing it. "Must be how smart I am. Guess brains beat blood sometimes."
A soft ripple moved under his skin, traveling from his shoulder to his spine.
"We agree," Venom rumbled. "You are intelligent. Capable. More than they see."
Eddie wasn't sure if that was comforting or terrifying.
He dragged a comb through his blond hair and he could practically hear girls at school whispering about how he looked like he walked out of a magazine photo shoot. Too bad most of them knew better than to talk to a kid rumored to have a temper and a father who drank like the world was ending.
He slung his backpack over one shoulder.
As he reached for the doorknob, Venom spoke again.
"Eddie… looking through your memories."
Eddie froze.
"What memories?"
A pause. Then, simple and curious:
"Who is Cass?"
Heat exploded in Eddie's face so fast he nearly tripped over his own shoes. "NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS!" he shouted at the empty room.
Venom didn't pull back if anything, the presence inside him leaned in with the enthusiasm of someone discovering a brand-new toy.
"She is important to you," Venom observed. "Your heartbeat changed."
"My?!" Eddie slapped a hand over his chest as if he could hide his heart from an alien parasite. "Dude, you can't just….there are rules! Boundaries! Privacy!"
The voice purred.
"We share a body. There are no secrets."
Eddie groaned into his palms. "I hate this. I hate you. I hate everything."
A low rumble thrummed beneath his ribs that was almost like a chuckle.
"You will not hate us for long."
Eddie shoved open the bedroom door a little too hard. "Stop being creepy and stop snooping through my memories!"
"As you wish," Venom said.
Then, under its breath which was too soft for a normal ear, but Eddie heard it anyway:
"For now."
Eddie growled. "I heard that!"
And for the first time, Venom actually sounded sheepish.
"…We are learning."
Eddie sighed. He wasn't ready to accept it, but some tiny part of him the part that had wished on a shooting star for a friend felt just a little less alone.
Eddie stepped out into the hallway, tugging his blazer straight. The apartment smelled like old beer and stale cigarette smoke and it was familiar enough that he barely noticed it anymore.
His father was sprawled on the couch, one arm dangling off the side, empty bottles like fallen soldiers around him. Norman snored loudly, a deep, uneven rumble that always made Eddie wonder if the man's heart would simply stop one day.
For a long moment, Eddie just stood there.
Watching.
Thinking.
Remembering.
He sighed and grabbed the thin blanket draped over the back of a chair. It was frayed around the edges, but warm. Carefully and almost tenderly Eddie spread it over his dad's broad shoulders.
A ripple shifted under his skin.
"He hurts us," Venom said, voice low, confused, almost offended. "Why protect him?"
Eddie swallowed hard. He stared at the man who had given him a black eye not two days ago. At the man who alternated between rage and regret like a broken switch. At the man he still loved because no amount of punches could erase memories from before everything went wrong.
"Once upon a time," Eddie whispered, "he was the best dad you could ask for."
Silence. Even Venom didn't respond to that.
Eddie slipped on his shoes quietly, trying not to wake the man who would be furious if he did. He grabbed his keys off the counter and stepped into the hallway.
The morning air was cold as he walked to the parking lot behind the building. His beat-up car which was a rusted old sedan he'd pulled from the junkyard and rebuilt piece by piece sat exactly where it always did, one wheel crooked, paint chipped, engine held together by stubbornness and miracles. To Eddie, it was perfect.
He slid into the driver's seat, the vinyl creaking beneath him. He turned the key, coaxing the engine through its familiar stutter until it finally roared to life.
Venom hummed inside him, curious.
"You made this?"
"Yeah," Eddie muttered, adjusting the mirrors. "Fixed it myself."
A strange warmth pulsed in Eddie's chest and it felt like approval or pride or maybe even admiration.
"You are capable," Venom said softly. "More than your father sees."
Eddie blinked at the windshield for a second before pulling onto the street.
"Yeah… well… someone has to be."
He drove toward Gotham Academy as the early sunlight crawled over the city's rooftops, the quiet hum of an alien symbiote his only passenger.
Gotham Academy
Eddie parked his beat-up sedan between a row of sleek black cars that probably cost more than his entire apartment building. He killed the engine and blew out a breath.
"Another day in paradise," he muttered.
Venom stirred.
"These students… they look at us with hostility."
"Yeah, well," Eddie said, grabbing his backpack. "Welcome to high school."
He hadn't taken more than ten steps before it started.
"Hey Brock!" a voice shouted.
Eddie kept walking.
A hand slammed into his shoulder, spinning him halfway around. A tall kid in a varsity jacket Flint Marko grinned down at him, flanked by two more meatheads from the football team.
"Nice car," Marcus sneered. "Did you steal it off the street or did some hobo die inside it first?"
The boys laughed. Eddie kept his jaw tight but Venom didn't.
"They are prey," it growled. "Allow us….."
"No," Eddie hissed under his breath. "We're not fighting the football team."
Marcus noticed him talking to no one. "What's wrong, Brock? You crazy now?"
Eddie turned away, but one of the boys kicked the back of his leg, sending him stumbling.
"That's right," Marcus taunted. "Walk away, loser."
Eddie clenched his teeth hard enough to make his jaw tremble.
He didn't hit back. Couldn't. One slip, He is out the school.
Then a shadow stepped between them.
A girl not tall, not broad, but impossibly steady. Raven-black hair cut short. Sharp eyes that missed nothing. Cassandra Cain.
She didn't say a word.
She didn't have to.
Marcus laughed, trying to play it off. "Oh look, Brock brought his little bodyguard. What're you gonna do, Cassie? Glare me to death?"
Cassandra tilted her head.
One step closer with a silent warning.
Marcus swallowed. His friends shifted uneasily.
Everyone at Gotham Academy knew Cassandra Cain didn't fight often but when she did, she never lost.
"Whatever," Marcus muttered, backing off. "Not worth it."
The three jocks walked off, trying to hold onto their swagger but failing miserably.
Eddie rubbed the back of his neck. "Uh… thanks."
Cassandra looked at him for a long moment. Her gaze was gentle but searching like she could see the bruises he hid, the sleepless nights, the simmering anger he didn't show.
Then she nodded once and walked beside him toward the building.
Venom hummed curiously inside him.
"She is strong," it said. "Different from the others."
Eddie's ears warmed. He tried not very successfully to play it cool.
"Yeah," he muttered, staring at the ground. "She's… Cassandra."
Venom was silent for a beat then.
"Your heartbeat changed again."
Eddie nearly tripped on the stairs. "DUDE stop monitoring my heartbeat!"
He could swear he felt Venom smirk.
Timeskip
Gotham Academy's hallways were too bright, too polished, too clean. Eddie walked beside Cassandra in awkward silence, trying not to think about how her shoulder almost but not quite brushed his.
Venom was unusually quiet.
Watching.
Learning.
By the time Eddie sat down in first period, the symbiote made itself known again.
His fingers twitched.
His leg bounced.
His senses buzzed like someone had dialed the world up to eleven.
He could hear every pencil tap.
Every whisper.
The hum of the fluorescent lights sounded like a chainsaw in his ear.
"Whoa…" Eddie rubbed his temple. "Too much…"
"This body is adjusting," Venom said calmly. "You are stronger. Faster. More aware. You must adapt."
"Well maybe warn me before you turn my brain into a radio antenna," Eddie muttered.
The teacher called his name three times before Eddie even realized he'd been asked a question. Cassandra glanced over at him, brow slightly furrowed not judging, just… noticing. She noticed everything.
By the time lunch rolled around, Eddie felt like he was vibrating. He dropped his tray onto the table and sat down across from Cassandra because she always sat alone too, like they were two planets in the same lonely orbit.
But today, Eddie wasn't lonely.
He was starving.
He stared at his tray which contained two burgers, a mountain of fries, chicken tenders, a carton of milk, and whatever cafeteria pizza was pretending to be.
It didn't look like enough.
Cassandra paused mid-bite, watching him with those unreadable dark eyes.
Eddie swallowed.
"Don't judge me. I, uh… skipped breakfast."
"That is not the truth," Venom purred.
Eddie grit his teeth. Shut up.
He reached for his first burger.
Venom urged: Eat.
Eddie took a bite.
Then another.
Then he inhaled the entire thing like he hadn't eaten in weeks.
Cassandra blinked.
Eddie grabbed the second burger.
Gone in seconds.
Fries vanished next. He scooped up chicken tenders two at a time. He drank the milk, then crushed the carton in his fist without meaning to and Cassandra's eyes widened briefly at the accidental display of strength.
"Hungry…" Eddie muttered. His stomach growled like a lion.
"We require fuel," Venom said, sounding utterly content. "You burned much energy adjusting this morning."
Eddie rubbed his face with both hands. "Dude, I'm gonna look like a freak."
"You already do."
Eddie nearly choked. "HEY!"
Venom chuckled actually chuckled. Eddie could feel it vibrating in his ribs.
Cassandra slid one of her apples across the table to him.
Eddie froze. "Uh… you don't have to….."
She pushed it toward him again.
Eddie accepted it, ears turning warm.
"Thanks."
Cassandra looked at him for a long moment, then softly tapped her chest twice which is a gesture meaning eat in sign.
He smiled back and it was small and awkward, but real.
And Venom stirred with surprising approval.
"She… is nice to you," Venom said quietly.
Eddie swallowed the last bite of the apple, smiling at his tray, at Cassandra, at everything and nothing.
"…Yeah," he whispered. "I know."
Venom says "Eddie we need to practice." Eddie nods and suddenly pushed back from the table, his chair scraping loudly across the floor.
"I uh gotta go. Bathroom. Or something."
He didn't wait for a response.
Didn't look at Cassandra.
Just grabbed his backpack and practically sprinted out of the cafeteria, Venom rumbling inside him like a stormcloud.
Cassandra watched him disappear around the corner, her expression unreadable except for the faint crease of worry between her brows.
A moment later, two trays dropped onto the table beside her.
Stephanie Brown slid into the seat on Cass's left, bright blonde ponytail bouncing, eyes full of curiosity.
Tim Drake sat on the right, his posture perfect, already analyzing the situation like it was homework he intended to ace.
"Okay," Stephanie said, leaning in. "What was that?"
"Eddie Brock practically inhaled his entire lunch and then ran away like someone lit his pants on fire."
Tim raised an eyebrow. "He ate more than I've seen any human consume outside of a competitive eating competition."
Cassandra didn't answer right away. She reached into the center of the table, picked up the crushed milk carton Eddie had left behind, and placed it gently between them.
Both Tim and Steph leaned closer.
The carton wasn't just squished. It was flattened. Like someone had closed their fist around it with bone-cracking force.
Tim blinked. "He did that?"
Cass nodded once.
Stephanie's eyes widened. "Whoa. But Eddie's… not exactly the gym-rat type."
Cassandra set her burger down and signed a quick series of movements:
Bullies. This morning. Eddie hurt.
Tim's expression softened. "Marcus and his goons again?"
She nodded.
Stephanie huffed. "I swear, if Marcus weren't a minor, I'd sue him personally. Or punch him. Maybe both."
Tim tapped the crushed carton thoughtfully.
"This is… unusual. People don't get super-strength overnight."
Cass's eyes flicked toward the doors Eddie had run through.
She signed slower this time, thoughtful: Something's wrong. Inside him.
Stephanie frowned. "Inside him… like sick?"
Cass shook her head.
Then touched her chest right where her heart was before tapping her temple.
Tim's brows lifted. "…Inside him how, Cass?"
Cass didn't know how to explain it in words. She only knew what she felt. Which was Eddie's body language during lunch, the tension in his shoulders, the tremor in his hands, the way his pulse jumped like he was fighting something no one else could see.
She finally signed:
He's scared.
Stephanie's voice softened. "Of the bullies?"
Cass shook her head again and then signed the truth:
No.
Of himself.
Tim and Stephanie went quiet.
Cass stared at the cafeteria doors long after Eddie had gone through them and her gaze steady, protective, and a little bit worried.
Because whatever Eddie Brock was going through it wasn't normal.
And he wasn't alone anymore because she wasn't going to let him be.
Timeskip
Eddie shoved his hands into his pockets as he left Gotham Academy, the late-afternoon sky bruised purple over the rooftops. He walked fast, head down, backpack thumping against his spine.
His mind kept drifting back to Cassandra.
The apple she pushed toward him.
The way she stepped between him and Marcus without hesitation.
"So," Eddie muttered, "you're still not allowed to dig into my memories. Or talk about Cass."
Inside him, Venom pulsed like a heartbeat.
"We are not digging," it said. "We are… observing. She is meaningful to you."
Eddie's face heated instantly. "Dude. Stop."
Venom hummed, a sly vibration. "Your pulse rises every time….."
"DROP. IT."
Eddie cut through the side street next to the school.
That was when a hand hooked the back of his hoodie and yanked him into an alley.
He barely got a breath before Flint slammed him against the brick wall.
"Where you runnin', Brock?" Flint hissed. His two goons boxed Eddie in. "Thought you could hide behind Cain forever?"
Eddie pushed off the wall, fists clenched. "I'm not in the mood, Flint."
Marcus drove a fist into Eddie's stomach and Eddie grunted and doubled over.
Another punch.
A knee to the ribs.
Pain exploded across his body.
Venom growled, a cold vibration crawling under Eddie's skin.
"They are hurting us. Let us protect you."
Eddie gasped, trying to stay upright. No… if I let you out…..
Flint grabbed him by the collar. "Come on, Brock. Fight back. Or cry. Either works."
Another punch.
This one made Eddie's ears ring.
Venom's voice sharpened.
"Eddie. Now."
Eddie squeezed his eyes shut.
"Fine. Help me."
The world stopped.
A cool, liquid sensation spread across Eddie's chest, racing along his arms and legs like black mercury. His torn hoodie shifted no, dissolvedas into something smooth and flexible formed across his skin.
Black fabric.
Seamless.
Skin-tight.
Alive.
A white spider emblem stretched across his chest.
A sleek black mask pulled up over his face, eye lenses forming like drops of hard glass pooling into shape.
Eddie inhaled sharply. The world snapped into razor focus.
Flint froze mid-swing.
"What - what the hell?!"
Eddie grabbed his wrist not with brutality but just effortless control and twisted. Flint dropped to one knee with a howl.
One goon lunged. Eddie dodged without thinking, flipping backward off the wall and landing light as a cat. The suit moved with him, enhancing every motion, every instinct.
Another swing came from behind. Eddie spun, heel connecting with the boy's chest, sending him flying into a stack of garbage bins. He never hit harder than he meant to.
The muscle control was perfect and guided.
The third boy hesitated.
Eddie didn't attack.
He simply stepped forward, masked face tilting.
"Leave," he said.
The voice wasn't monstrous.
It was Eddie's voice but it was more smooth and steady and now amplified through the suit like an echo in a dark room.
The goon ran first.
Flint followed, limping and swearing, dragging the third with him.
Silence settled over the alley.
Eddie stood there, chest rising and falling, suit gleaming under the flickering streetlamp.
Slowly… the mask peeled back, retracting like smoke into the collar. Eddie stared at his reflection in a broken window and saw the black suit hugging his frame.
The white spider blazing across his chest.
Power humming through his muscles like clean electricity.
"Holy crap…" he whispered.
Venom's voice was soft, steady.
"This form suits you. Strong. Swift. In control."
Eddie swallowed.
"This… this doesn't feel like a monster."
"It is not," Venom said. "It is us. Together."
Eddie touched the spider emblem with trembling fingers.
For the first time in a long time… he felt safe.
Maybe even heroic.
But underneath that pride, a whisper of fear still lingered.
If I can turn this on…
can I always turn it off?