[New York, 2038.]
Bruce – even the mighty Hulk – knows he’s nowhere near matched up to this fight. “We are so screwed...” He mumbles, he and all the rest staring up into the half blackened sky.
Dealing with a never-ending army of symbiotes is one thing – possibly doable – but dealing with symbiote bonded Celestials is a completely different thing altogether.
“That’s not helpful, Banner.” Sam mutters, though, he has to admit, he doesn’t see a way out of this – not unless Eddie and Venom can pull whatever secret move they’re hoping to pull.
“No, but he’s right.” Kate supplies, nervously jittering beside Yolena, who places a calming hand on the younger archer’s shoulder. Kate shoots her a small, but grateful smile in return.
“We just have to stand our ground and –“
“The fuck ya talking about, Cap? What ground do we have left to stand on already?” Rocket scoffs up Sam, furry little arms folded over his chest, tiny goggles pushed up against his furry forehead, free for his most humanlike features to glare up at the idiot Captain. (At least he’s nowhere near as stupid as Quill.)
“Wow, so helpful, furface.” Johnny scoffs out, flamed form hovering over the group of heroes, along with Storm, Carol, Jean and Strange.
“Right?” Quill scoffs out.
“Wow, so original. Hey, how’s the ex-wife doing? She still think you’re a giant flaming pile of loser? Meh, don’t blame her. She ain’t exactly wrong.” Rocket sarcastically drawls out before flipping “flame boy” off.
Johnny scoffs, looks incredulous as he mutters to himself, “I’m getting roasted by a fucking mutated rodent.”
“I am Groot.”
“HA!” Rocket scoffs out a laugh. “Right? He roasts himself.”
“Motherfucker –“ Johnny hisses dives down towards the duo.
“Enough.” Jean holds up a hand, freezing Johnny in his mid-air tracks.
“OK. Fuck!” Johnny squirms.
“Ha!”
Quill launches a little slap upside his furry little smug shit head.
“Hey!” Rocket hisses.
Groot then lightly slaps Quill upside of his head.
Quickly followed by Gamora, who slaps him up the other side of his head.
“Seriously?” Quill glares at them both, but mainly at Groot, even when the stupid sentient tree alien shrugs and smiles helplessly – as if he just wanted to join in.
“Boys!” Nat snaps, glares at all of them.
“Thank you.” Sam sighs when they all finally shut up, then, shoots the redhead Russian beauty a grateful smile. “You heard anything from Eddie or Venom?”
Xavier blinks, his mind focusing back on the here and now, shakes his head as he stares rather grimly up at the Captain. “I’m afraid not. Because of their hive mind mentality, it’s rather difficult to distinguish who is who. I am able to connect with Venom, because he allows me to.”
“What about Dylan?” Carol asks.
Jen and Yolena scoff, but it’s Nat that glares up at her and says, “For the last time, we are NOT using a kid.”
“A kid?” Carol scoffs back, floats lower to the ground so that she’s almost eye level with the ex Russian spy. “That kid has more dangerous firepower than this asshole so-called ancient god of darkness. It’s the reason he’s fucking here!”
“So, what?” Bucky asks, an incredulous look on his face as he then asks, “We just hand the kid right over to save our own asses? The same kid who belongs to the very two beings trying save our asses AND everybody else’s?” He scoffs out a laugh, muttering to himself in Xhosa, “Iqhawe elithile. [Some hero.]”
“I’m not saying we hand him over. What the fuck do you think I am?” Carol looks outraged.
The nerve, Sam thinks, turns to her and tells her, “We’re not using Dylan as a weapon.” Because after helping Bucky through his nightmares and traumas, he feels very strongly about that type of shit.
“You don’t think I know what it’s like to be used as a weapon?” Carol asks him, arches a brow.
Sam almost scoffs, doesn’t, manages to stay composed and polite, even as he tells her, “I think you don’t know what it’s like to be tortured and broken into becoming a weapon, yeah.”
Carol sighs, glances at Bucky, who merely stares blankly back at her. “I’m not saying we should force him, either.” She says, feet gently landing on the ground. She glances up towards the faint glowing bodies of the Celestials, tries to sound reasonable as she asks, “But don’t you think that locking away our one actual good chance at beating this asshole and his army isn’t exactly the best idea?”
“You’re right. I don’t think it’s a good idea.” Sam says, earning him a few scoffs and glares. He ignores them, holds great conviction in his tone as he tells her, “But it’s not up to us. We are heroes. What’s up to us is to save the day, even if it means giving up our lives. Now, Eddie and Venom are good friends of mine and a lot of other people here, they’re part of our team, and they’ve trusted us to keep their boys safe, no matter what, to treat them as we would treat any other person we’d try to save. You’re off Earth a lot, and that’s OK, but you’re not the one in charge around here. And we don’t put the weight of the world on the shoulders of little kids, no matter how powerful they are. We clear?”
Nat arches an impressed brow, Jen, Gamora and Rocket smirk, Yolena holds in a chuckle along with Jean and Toad, Bruce, Storm, Hank and Bucky all smile proudly (Bucky in particular), while Xavier, Jean, and the others all watch the universal Captain be put in her place by the more “down to Earth” Captain.
Carol sighs, but nods as she thinks of little Monica – not so little anymore... and not so much idolising her anymore... not that she blames her – as she says, “Yeah. We’re clear.”
“Cap, come in. They got Rhodey. Stupid bastard saved my idiot ass!” Comes Tony’s voice hissing through each of their ear pieces.
“They have my mom, too.” Billy says as he appears literally out of thin air. “They got my dad and Tommy, too, but it’s my mom we’ve gotta worry about. The symbiotes enhance the abilities of their hosts.”
“Uhhh, wh-what?” Kate, as usual when she’s feeling particularly nervous, barely fumbles her words out.
“Oh, great.” Bucky drawls. “As if one godlike enemy isn’t enough.”
“I’ve been trying to break into the hive mind, but with no luck. Yet.” Billy states with a determined look, one that’s almost as frightening as his mother’s – the Scarlet fricking Witch. “Mom was helping before they took Tommy. We were getting close, but Knull felt us and quickly shut us out.”
“And he’s almost here.” Peter chimes in as he suddenly appears, swooping down from the nearest building and landing gracefully in front of the group. “For some reason, neither he or the symbiotes seem to have any interest in me.”
Bucky scoffs. “Probably just means he’s got worse plans for you than the rest of us.”
Both Sam and Nat shoot Bucky a pointed glare when Peter gasps, his nanotech white eyes widening in horror at the thought.
Clint lets out a quietly defeated sigh, rubs two fingers to his aching temples, and both Storm and Jen’s months fall open in dismay at the century old supersoldier’s tactless social conduct.
“Wha – I...” Bucky turns and sends the spider kid a sheepish smile. “But probably not.”
Sam rolls his eyes, Nat, too, though, Yolena has to purse her lips to keep from laughing. Meanwhile, Kate stares at Peter in horror, too, hopes deeply that Bucky is wrong.
Xavier smirks to himself, would laugh at all their (hero-y) antics if they weren’t all about to die... probably, as James just stated. “Billy, show Jean and I what you and your mother were trying to do. Maybe we can help.”
“Of course. Anything to get everybody back.” Billy nods, floats down to land gracefully beside the professor.
Xavier smiles at the young man’s courage and compassion – always willing to fix the problem before fighting against it; a true hero, among many others. “Captain Wilson –“ He turns his wheelchair to face Sam. ”– if I may propose another plan?”
Sam nods courteously, takes a small step back. “Floor’s yours, Professor.”
“Thank you.” Xavier gives him a courteous nod in return before turning his wheelchair back and addressing all the mighty heroes that stand and hover before and above him. “Losing Wanda is a hard blow to our side. Though, I believe with Doctor Strange, Jean, myself, and Billy, we should be able to make this plan work. I don’t know why I didn’t think of it earlier – we must find a way to sever Knull’s link to the hive mind. The symbiotes are his only real weapons. Eddie and Venom are already trying to do this, but they’re main focus is Knull himself. From our side –“ He motions towards Billy, and Jean and Strange – who both float down to land either side of him. ”– we will do the same, but our focus will be finding a weak link in the hive.”
“Sounds solid enough.” Bucky says, actually sounds slightly optimistic (for once.) “You’re hoping if Eddie and Venom can’t manage to get through to Knull, it’ll, at least, be enough of a distraction for you and the other telepaths to worm your way into the hive mind.” The professor nods, and Bucky nods his approval back.
And then, out of nowhere, Knull is floating above them all, high up in the blackened sky that slowly follows after him. Although, none of the so-called mighty heroes of Earth even notice he’s there until his booming voice fills both their heads and the air around them. “Solid enough, indeed, James.” He grins down at them as all their tiny little heads pop up – like tiny little worms pearing up at him. “But I’m still going to destroy your little world, little ones. My armies are scouring your precious planet as I speak to you now.”
“I’m coming for you, Knull!”
Knull chuckles to himself. ‘Can’t wait to meet you, sweet boy. Where are you? Tell me, and I will come to you now.’
‘I’m –‘
[Now.]
“STOP!”
Perched at the foot of her bed while watching various (terrible) movies on Netflix, like he often is when she’s sleeping, Venom all but rips off his headphones and swirls around at the sound of her distressed voice. He sees her bolting upright, but her eyes are still screwed shut and her jaw is clenched tight with a less adorable and more worrying scowl creasing her pretty brow. “Eddie, my love –“ He floats over to her, two arm-like tendrils seeping out of the tether binding them together that sprout two small inky hands. He holds her shoulders, gently shakes her awake.
“Dangerous, D... Wasn’t the deal.” Eddie murmurs before her eyes crack open and she stares rather groggily back at him. “V?”
She sounds so lost for a moment, Venom really doesn’t like the feeling in her. “Am still with you, Eddie.” He says, knows it’s reassurance she needs right now. “Dilly really is a little shit.” He adds, shooting her his usual cheeky grin. Though, his soul swells with happiness.
Eddie’s gaze snaps up to his, looks surprised, then smiles fondly and says, “You already call him Dilly and we haven’t even made him yet.” She chuckles, shakes her head at how crazy this all (still) is.
Venom grins, eyes glinting with mischief as he purrs out the words, “Just let me know when you want to get started on making our babies, Eddie. I will be there and down for it.”
Eddie chuckles again, shakes her head again. “The little shit was still just a kid and STILL tryin’ to give away his location to dear old Knull just so he could play hero. Hasn’t even happened yet, but I swear, I felt like I almost had a fricking heart attack.” She takes a deep breath to calm herself, hand pressed lightly over her heart.
Venom sends out a small tendril to gently swipe away her slightly sweat-damp strawberry locks. “He sounds just like his mother; a brave little idiot.” He smiles softly, and his words are genuine, sound it, too, even with the slight hint of amusement on the edges of it.
Eddie smiles back at him, scoffs out a laugh. “I’d call you brave, too, but you’re just crazy violent and violently opinionated, so we can’t count you.”
Venom scoffs, tries with all his might to look offended as he crosses his little arms... and Eddie laughs at their absurd adorableness, which only makes Venom shoot her a pathetic glare.
“You’re so cute when you pout, babe.” Eddie chuckles, leans over to press a sweet kiss to his pursed lips, smiles fondly when, like he typically does whenever she kisses him still, blinks his surprise before breaking out into a dopey grin. “What’re you watchin’?” She asks, sinks back under the covers to get comfortable as he grabs the laptop and floats over beside her.
“Was watching ‘365 Days’, but we can watch ‘Friends’ instead.” Venom says, voice rather tight.
Eddie chuckles as she watches his inky little digits dart over the mouse-pad, already knows by his tone and annoyed expression, even before she asks, “Is it any good?”
Venom lets out a small groan of disgust and contempt. “Absolutely not. I was only 10 minutes in and already wanted to gouge my own eyes out.” He grumbles as he clicks onto the last episode of ‘Friends’ they were both watching and pulls the headphones out so they can both hear.
Eddie lifts the covers, smiles to herself when his noodle-head shrinks down enough to fit under. He curls up beside her, tiny tendrils latching onto her midriff as he hugs himself tightly to her. “What if I wanna be the little spoon?” She pouts when his little head lifts and he gazes up at her.
Venom doesn’t waste another second it seems then as his large hulking humanoid mass floods forth. Eddie laughs as he rolls them over so that he’s lying underneath her instead – more importantly, so that she’s lying on top of him, because he can definitely never get enough of that now that he knows just what it feels like (instead of just fantasising...)
“Technically, we can count that as you sweepin’ me off my feet.” Eddie chirps, goddamn giggles like a school girl when he grins and licks firmly over her left cheek.
“Better, Eddie?” Venom asks, and he may be taunting, but he’s also serious, because he senses her need for comfort. She smiles and nods, and he would smile back if he didn’t feel so guilty. “Told you we can do many things. Boast about it often.” He tells her, voice slightly sad, “But still can’t keep your nightmares from you... can’t protect you fully... can’t make you feel better...”
“You make me feel better without even tryin’, V, you don’t need to worry about that.” Eddie is almost laughing, because it’s absurd that he should think otherwise. And she really hates the way he sounded so ashamed with himself, so, she presses both her hands to his huge inky head and makes him look at her with those rather saddened pale orbs, and tells him, “I really was so lost and so fuckin’ alone before you came into my life. I fucked everythin’ up, and I pushed everybody away, includin’ Anne. And all because I was scared of fuckin’ everythin’ in my life up, just like my old man fucked everythin' in his life up – which is both dumb and sadly a vicious cycle for some people.”
Eddie smiles brightly as he pears back up at her with that heart melting adoring gaze he often gives her. “But I was lucky enough to find you.” She presses a peck to his face. “My darlin’ symbiote.” She presses another kiss to his face. “My greatest love.” She leans down for another, chuckles quietly when his eyes light up and he lets out those deep pleased rumblings.
“Love you, Eddie.” Venom purrs out into the silence that follows, the only other noise being the ‘Friends’ episode quietly playing in the background.
Eddie smiles, presses her cheek against his warm chest and lets out a content sigh as she whispers, “I love you, too, V.”
Secretly, she thinks that “My Darling Symbiote; My Greatest Love” would be an awesome title for that Lethal Protector article she’s slowly, but surely coming to complete.
And even more nervously than secretly than that, Eddie really hopes Venom likes what she’s written about him when she finally shows him.
And bless his sweet symbiote soul for bonding with the downstairs neighbour’s cat whenever she does write about him. Although, it’s more endearing, because she knows how much he loves surprises.
‘Only if they are good surprises.’ Venom corrects her, grins when she chuckles, the pretty sound tickling his “chest”, then, fondly – and encouragingly – tells her, ‘And I have no doubt it will the best thing I will ever read.’
Eddie merely groans and tells him, “You keep buildin’ it up so much, you’re gonna be severely disappointed, babe.”
“Impossible.” Venom scoffs, dismisses her words completely as he tells her, “Could never truly disappoint me, Eddie.”
Eddie chuckles, presses a sweet kiss to his chest before pressing her cheek back to it and telling him, “Imma hold you to those words next time you break ‘em.”