Venom's pitch-black symbiote substance, like the most meticulous surgeon, tightly wound around the "heart" in Victor's chest—a crude assembly of laboratory waste that had already ceased beating.
It frantically channeled energy, attempting to reignite that faint spark of life.
Once, twice... ten times... No response.
That rough heart, which had sustained Victor's life for over a decade, lay completely silent like an old clockwork toy that had exhausted its last ounce of strength.
"Move! Damn it! Move!"
Venom roared soundlessly from the depths of Victor's consciousness, a howl mixed with extreme fear, unwillingness, and profound helplessness.
Over a decade ago, when Victor's heart was pierced by Dr. 062 and he teetered on the brink of death, Venom had cobbled together this heart purely on instinct and a sliver of luck.
It never truly believed it would succeed, let alone last this long.
This in itself was a miracle, one stolen by it and Victor together—a miracle that could end at any moment.
Outside, Victor's body slumped limply into the arms of Enid and Wednesday.
"Victor!"
Enid's heart-wrenching cry tore through the air, her golden hair disheveled, tears like broken strings of pearls falling onto Victor's gradually cooling face.
She shook him vigorously, as if that alone could rouse him.
Wednesday pressed her pale lips tightly together; her eyes, usually as cold and deep as a still pond, now rippled violently, their rims slightly red.
She gripped Victor's cold hand tightly, her nails nearly digging into her own palm, yet she felt no pain at all.
An unprecedented, icy fear named "loss" was creeping up her spine.
Mavis stood a little farther away. As a non-human being, her perception of life was more acute.
She clearly "heard" the life force within Victor nearly dissipate, and an overwhelming sadness spread across her face.
She gently closed her eyes.
"Venom..."
Mavis spoke hoarsely, clinging to a final shred of hope.
Venom slowly extended a small portion from Victor's chest, forming a tiny, dejected black head. Its huge white eyes had lost all their luster as it announced the final verdict in a raspy, low voice:
"Say your final goodbyes to him."
"What did you say?!"
Enid snapped her head up, her azure eyes wide with disbelief and instantly crumbling despair.
"What final goodbye?! Didn't Victor... cross that boundary?! Is it not enough? I can take him farther away!"
"I... can't restart that broken heart again."
Venom's voice was filled with frustration and deep exhaustion.
"To be honest, when I replaced Victor's heart with this... thing over a decade ago, it was a desperate, last-ditch effort. I never expected it to work. That it lasted until today is already stolen time."
At that moment, Victor's eyes slowly opened a crack again, but all light had vanished from his pupils, leaving only a deathly gray dullness.
His voice was as faint as a thread, as if it might snap at any moment:
"Sorry... everyone... this time... perhaps it's really... time to say goodbye..."
He turned his eyeballs with extreme slowness, struggling to take in every sorrowful face around him.
"It's okay... to die like this... surrounded by family... for me... is perhaps the best ending..."
His voice grew softer and softer, finally falling silent. His eyes closed completely, and his chest no longer rose or fell.
That rough "heart," which had stolen over a decade of time, had finally fulfilled its final mission.
"No... no! Victor! Please! Please wake up! Don't!"
Enid threw herself over Victor, her wails turning into despairing sobs, her shoulders trembling violently.
Wednesday closed her eyes, two clear tears finally sliding silently down her cheeks.
She tilted her head back slightly, as if suppressing some immense pain, but the taut line of her jaw betrayed the collapse within.
Mavis pulled the sobbing Wednesday and Dennis into her embrace, her own face streaked with tears.
Johnny pounded the ground with his fist, while Principal Larissa and the Addams and Sinclair couples all bowed their heads. An atmosphere of suffocating sorrow filled the air.
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