Chapter 266: Giving You a Hand
Ross waved his hand, and the sonic vehicles immediately ceased their broadcast. He had orders from above to bring the specimen in alive.
As the sound died down, Venom slumped to the ground, motionless, his state uncertain. Eddie was in slightly better shape; though he was flat on his stomach and trembling violently, he still showed signs of life. Slowly, agonizingly, he began to crawl toward the black puddle that was Venom.
"Where do you think you're going, cannibal?" Ross stepped forward, planting a heavy military boot on Eddie's back, pinning him to the dirt.
"Venom... Venom..." Eddie wheezed, blood pooling in his mouth.
Eddie's vision was a blurred mess, but he could just make out a dark shape lying a few feet away. That had to be him.
"What was that?" Ross leaned down with a mocking grin, as if listening to the final regrets of a dying man.
Clatter.
A mask slid out of Eddie's jacket and hit the pavement.
"What's this?" Ross frowned, reaching down to pick up the wooden artifact.
"The mask..." Eddie rasped. He remembered the mysterious man's gift. He desperately wanted to reach for it, but he didn't even have the strength to lift a finger.
Ross examined the mask closely. "What an ugly piece of work. I didn't realize a monster like you had a taste for art. It suits you—rotten and hideous."
The General's adjutant stepped forward, holding a containment unit where a portion of the black liquid had been scraped inside. "Target secured, General."
"Is it dead?" Ross asked, concerned. The scientists would have his head if he brought back a corpse.
Tap! Tap! Tap!
Ross rapped his knuckles against the glass. Finally, the black mass inside shifted slightly. It was alive.
"Whew. If it died, I'd never hear the end of it from those lunatics at the lab," Ross exhaled.
Eddie was hauled up by two armed guards, his feet dragging. "Venom?" he whispered weakly, watching the small transparent container.
Ross looked from the container to the man. "You seem quite attached to this sludge. Is it because it gives you the thrill of eating people?"
Eddie didn't answer. He didn't have the energy. He just wanted to close his eyes and let the darkness take him.
Inside the container, Venom was watching. Being a symbiote, his recovery rate was far superior to a human's, even after being nearly torn apart by sound. Eddie's dying, Venom realized. He could feel their bond fraying as Eddie's life force ebbed away. He slammed against the glass, but he was too weak to break it.
On the Rooftop
Silas sat silently on the edge of the roof, watching the scene below. He was currently invisible; Ross and his men had no idea a "god" was presiding over their operation.
"Sigh... how disappointing." Silas shook his head. He had hoped Eddie would have the sense to put the mask on sooner. Now, both the symbiote and the mask were in Ross's hands.
Silas didn't care much about the mask itself—he could recall it to the Shadow Kingdom whenever he wished—but the interference in his experiment was annoying.
"Sorry, General, but I'm not letting you ruin my trial run." Silas flicked his wrist, launching a sharp shadow shuriken toward the containment unit.
"Watch out!" Ross caught a glint of light reflecting off the spinning metal.
CRACK!
The container shattered instantly. Venom didn't hesitate; he surged out like a black tide.
"EDDIE!" Venom lunged onto his host, flowing over his skin and diving deep into his cells. He immediately began stitching together Eddie's ruptured internal organs.
"Open fire!" Ross bellowed.
But Venom was faster. He seized the arms of the two guards holding Eddie. CRUNCH! The guards screamed as their bones snapped like dry twigs.
Thwack!
Venom swatted the guards away and loomed over Ross. "I'm going to eat you!"
"Not today." Ross pulled a high-tech flare gun from his belt.
BOOM!
A ball of concentrated fire erupted from the barrel. Venom ducked, but more fireballs hissed toward him from the surrounding soldiers. He was forced to leap away. Eddie's body was still fragile; Venom needed time to finish the healing process.
"Don't let them escape!" Ross shouted, clutching the Shadow Mask as he sprinted toward his armored command vehicle. He was going to use the sonic tanks to finish this once and for all.
"Eddie, how are you feeling?" Venom asked as they leaped over a fence.
"Better... I think." Eddie's consciousness was returning.
"When this is over, you owe me ten cases of chocolate!"
"Haha... fine. If we make it out alive," Eddie replied, spotting Ross's maneuver. "Watch out! He's setting up the dishes again!"
Venom glanced back. The sonic tanks were pivoting, their massive dishes locking onto them. "F*!"
"Venom! Since when do you know how to curse?!" Eddie yelled, shocked.
"I learned it from you!" Venom dove into the burning remains of Dora's house. He was cornered.
"Aren't you afraid of fire? Get to the bathroom!" Eddie shouted.
Venom retreated into the bathroom, turning on every faucet. The cool water lowered the temperature just enough to keep the flames at bay.
"Venom... you should leave," Eddie said, his voice full of despair. "You can liquify. You can crawl through the pipes and find a new host. Just... avenge me."
Venom looked at the drain, then back at Eddie. For reasons he couldn't quite explain, he didn't want a new host.
"Don't be stupid, Eddie. I'm not leaving. I'm a loser on my planet, and you're a loser on yours. We're a perfect match!" Venom sat down in the overflowing tub, refusing to budge.
After a moment of silence, Eddie broke it. "A loser? No way. I think you're pretty amazing."
"Really? Well, I think you're okay too, Eddie. Much better than that other guy who dumped me." Venom was thinking of Peter.
"Someone dumped you?"
Venom nodded. "Yeah. He didn't like the eating people part. But as you know, eating brains is like breathing for me. I'd starve otherwise."
"I hate that part too," Eddie admitted, "but maybe we can stick to eating the brains of bad people. They don't use them anyway."
"HA!" Venom laughed, relinquishing control so Eddie could see his own reflection in the water. They looked at each other—partners.
BONG—!
The secondary sonic blast hit the house with the force of a tidal wave. Venom was torn away again, becoming a heap of quivering slime on the floor. Without his protection, Eddie collapsed.
Eddie reached out his hand, trembling. Opposite him, Venom braved the agonizing noise, desperately crawling back toward his host.
CRASH! The house began to collapse!
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