Spider-Man. The House Of Venom

Harry stared at the tank. The man, or thing, inside was lumpy, covered in sores and other minor skin deformities.

They collected DNA samples from Norman and used them in this experiment. The experiment had failed.

“So. Why is it still alive?” he asked his lead researcher, His name was unimportant, Smythe something.

The older man looked at him, hesitant to admit what went wrong. “Because. Because Sir, it's immortal.”

Harry looked at him as if he had just said something immensely stupid, and then he laughed. It started small but grew until he was holding his stomach. The researchers all paled in fright. Laughter usually meant being demoted. To Osborn, being demoted usually meant to test subject.

“Immortal? Really?” Harry asked, snatching the tablet from the scientist. He flicked through the notes, which were all the same boring analysis but paused at the video section. They were right.

They had done the usual oxygen deprivation. It preserved the body without damaging it. It woke up right as they slid it into the body bag.

“Sorry fella’s,” it said mockingly, “But black bodybag was last year.”

They stunned it with Tasers and then injected it with a sedative. The same mix they used on death row.

Once again, as they were lifting it into the bodybag,

“So uh, was that my one free hit? I mean, I like you, but I’m not blowing you for drugs.”

It went on like this for another four videos.

They tried drowning,

"You should try this with your mom, I hear she can hold her breath for hours."

They tried incineration,

"If you want to taste my spicy grilled wiener I'm gonna need more of those drugs, like a whole lot more."

Over and over they tried to kill this thing, and nothing worked. Even using acid failed to kill it.

So they sucked out the oxygen in its container and left it. The report had come straight to Harry’s desk. Marked Urgent.

“Bonding it to a Symbiote? It may pass on the regeneration power even if the bonding is a failure.” He ordered.

“The Symbiotes refuse to go anywhere near him.” One brave man volunteered.

Harry raised an eyebrow, “Refused?” He knew that bonding was done on his order only. 

“They move to the end of their containment pods if we bring on near, Sir.” he added nervously, “We wanted to be prepared for any.” He stopped.

“Nobody touches the Symbiotes without permission. Transfer him to my department. I have a new project ready to launch. He’ll be perfect.” It was good to find out who had any spark of initiative in his workers. It meant he could deal with them before they became a problem.

The man nodded and shuffled to the door. Nobody missed the look of helpless finality on his face. Everybody knew that Mr Osborn's projects were almost always fatal.

Harry flicked through the tablet. Other than regeneration nothing else was impressive. The subject wasn’t stronger or faster than normal, and would barely shut up when it was awake. He threw the tablet at some random scientist. “Send it to Shaw.”

The scientist nodded and began to prepare him for transfer. Corpses with certain abilities or genetic features were collected and shipped elsewhere. Nobody asked why or where. Nobody dared to.

The container was slid into a housing, one marked as cleaning products, loaded onto a van and taken away. It was no longer their responsibility. Everyone sighed in relief as both it and their boss left them alone once more.

⁂

Khaos thought of nothing but his orders. Hunt, kill, obey.

The first two were a young couple and their son.

They had been enjoying the theatre. New York could be dangerous anyway. Venom and Black Cat were still gracing headlines after stopping a mugging or two. But crime was down so they thought nothing of ducking through a deserted alleyway.

The woman clutched her throat as the pearl necklace she was wearing scattered on the ground. Blood poured from between her fingers and as the man stepped in front of her, he felt his legs go weak. He stumbled and his bottom half went one way while his torso tipped the other.

Their young son screamed as the monster in black tore at their flesh. He scrambled backwards and the creature, feasting, lifted its head. Bloody meat hung from razor teeth. Khaos screeched at the boy and pounced.

⁂

"Please be advised that the following report contains scenes unsuitable for some viewers.”

The screen cut to a warning label. The following report contains descriptions of violence and severe injury.

"A young couple was found today in what can only be described as a horrific attack. The young couple were not only brutalised but partially eaten. There were no survivors, including their nine-year-old son. A security camera in the area caught their assailant."

A grainy picture pops up on the screen and it is the silhouette of a man dressed in black. The frames flicker as they advance in slow motion. The man's head turns and a bloody maw can be seen, with a prominent white Spider on the front of his chest.

"The ETF gave this statement."

"A positive identification of the murderer known as Venom was made. With the warrant already issued for his part in John Jamessons death, we are issuing a safety alert. Venom is considered to be extremely dangerous. All citizens are advised to flee immediately if he is sighed. Seek safety before calling 911. Your call will be dealt with as fast as possible and an ETF unit will respond. The city will do everything to protect you. We will capture Venom."

⁂

He had done as he was told. He had killed, but it wasn’t enough for the monster inside. It wasn’t enough that his mind echoed with searing pain as he thought to stop and rest. He had orders, and he needed to fulfil them.

The next victim was a young man. He was at some lawyer's office, busy locking a door.

Khaos made it messy. Pieces of him were left decorating the metal railing around the bottom stairs. This time though, he took his time and waited as long as he could. He heard the sirens and hoped he could but the thought vanished into a flash of fire and agony. Sirens meant Police. Police meant containment. His orders said not to be captured. It was not a mistake he would make again. The Symbiote healed the damage as the collar sparked a reaction through his brain.

Obey or suffer.

⁂

Peter frowned as he saw his phone. “Hey Matt,” he said as he answered it. Their relationship was a lot more cordial now that Venom was off the streets. “Uh no.”

Peter flicked on the TV and frowned as he saw the news.

“You know that isn’t me.” Peter watched as they showed the black-suited man leave the alleyway. He resisted crunching his phone when they showed the three bodies.

“Is this the lawyer asking, or the Devil?” Peter asked, knowing he might need one, and get a visit from the other.

Peter slumped into the couch and rubbed his forehead, “Come on. You know it's not, and I have plenty of witnesses.” He was about to argue more when the message alert on his phone beeped. It was from Fury.

“Matt, look. No, I’m not a killer, and you can speak to everyone. I was here last night. Look, I gotta go, Fury is thinking the same, and no offence but he’s a lot scarier than you.”

Peter hung up and checked the message Fury had sent him.

‘I’m not even gonna assume it had anything to do with you, but the agency thinks it is, and I’m being outranked. Stay off the streets, and stay around people.’

Peter leaned back and groaned. He forwarded the message to Matt and added a reply of his own.

‘I was with Felicia and Liv when it happened. I can prove I wasn’t there.’ He tapped a finger on the side of the screen, while he thought. ‘I know who it is, but not on the phone and please, please do not go hunting for it,’

Dammit, he thought.

With the adaptive abilities of the Symbiotes, making one look like Venom wasn’t exactly hard. and now he was earning the distrust of the media once more. He could imagine what J.J. was saying already.

⁂

“Right, shouldn’t have to be said, but that’s not me.” Peter pointed at the grainy CCTV picture of the black-suited Symbiote. “As far as we know, the only Symbiotes unaccounted for would be Flash.” Peter sighed. “I checked and Shield said it's not him either.”

“That still doesn’t get you off the hook, Peter,” Matt explained. “Even if it's not one of yours, the Bugle and the public don’t care.”

Peter ran a hand down his face, “It’s Harry Osborn. We just can’t prove it.”

Matt laughed, and shook his head, “You don’t get it. This isn’t stopping a mugging. This was the murder of a family.”

The small group sat at the breakfast table. Gwen and Mj were at work, Liv was with Curt and May planning the wedding.

That left Felicia and Peter to deal with Matt. They sat with coffee, undrunk as the severity of the situation became a harsh reality. Harry had unleashed a hostile Symbiote on New York. If the hunger and desire they all felt were channelled into darker emotions, things could be a lot worse.

“I’ll be patrolling tonight and I’ve already called in a few friends. I don’t care if it's not you Peter. The Symbiotes were your responsibility. Stay low you said, stay out of sight and off the streets.” Matt stood, the anger visible on his face, “Three dead Peter. A family.” Matt sat back down, and let out a slow breath, “Sorry. kids, just no.” Elektra patted him on the arm.

“What Matty means to say is that Daredevil and Hades will take care of this for you, but there will be a cost. He is right that we should have been told. Even if our enemy is Harry Osborn. What else have you not told us?”

Peter looked over at Felicia, who frowned but shrugged. “A lot, because it wasn’t anyone's business but ours.”

Matt snorted, and lifted his cup, draining it, “your coffee is still terrible. A friend of mine is going to be paying you a visit. Be nice, as he makes Elektra look like a pussy cat.” Matt slid a hand over the table’s edge and lifted his cane, “We will end this, but Elektra is right. There will be a cost Peter.”

Peter and the group watched as Elektra and Matt made their way from the warehouse. “Well, any idea?”

“Stick. Matt's mentor Stick. He runs a mystical organisation called the Chaste.” Felicia said, staring at her cup, “And he doesn't make Elektra look like a pussy cat, he makes her look like a kid. He’s bad news, Pete. You need to be careful.”

Peter ran a hand over his face, “I always am.” Felicia raised an eyebrow “Sometimes.” She tilted her head, “Fine fine. If anyone makes a huge mistake it's usually me. I get it. Bad Pete.”

Felicia laughed, “Spank you later. Now though. Can you change your colour? I mean, anything but black would end this right now.”

Peter set his cup down, “Nope. I can make any outfit I want, even create multiple layers for full effect, but my armour is black. I can get rid of the spider on the front but anything else? I can’t even make it lighter.”

“Then you sit this one out. Black Cat can join the party. We know how bad it can be, and while Matt is juiced and Elektra has Hades, we need a heavy hitter.”

Peter snorted, “You just like showing off for your friends.”

Felicia simply grinned and half shrugged with one shoulder. “When you’re this talented and beautiful, it's not showing off. I can’t help everyone else being inferior.”