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The symbiote flowed across Dante's body, but unlike the last time, the bonding felt different. Where before it had been forceful and invasive, now it was slow and careful. Each thread of black mass touching his skin seemed to pause, as though ready to retreat at the slightest resistance.
"IS THIS CORRECT?" Venom's panicking yet excited thoughts crashed into his mind. "ARE WE DOING IT RIGHT?"
Venom had been burned by fire before, metaphorically, of course.
"Hurry it up, you two."
His words were for both Emma and Venom. Emma was too focused to respond, but Venom quickly spread its living matter across his torso and legs, no longer hesitant with his permission. The symbiote reached his neck and finally his face. The bonding deepened as it finally interfaced with his nervous system.
Venom gasped in his mind. "THIS SOURCE… THIS STRENGTH."
Through their newly completed neural link, Dante felt exactly what had caught Venom's fancy: the Helio Reactor filled with solar radiation. To Venom, it must have appeared like a miniature sun burning at his core.
"Merge with it."
Venom obeyed Dante's insane order and accessed the Helio Reactor through their connection, instinctively letting it interact with his symbiote matter. At first, Venom was afraid of solar radiation's heat, but that turned out to be unnecessary.
The solar radiation didn't burn the symbiote. It was channeled with Venom's biomass as a conduit, its pure energy enhancing the symbiote physiology.
And the excess had nowhere to go but out.
A mix of blue and golden flames erupted across Dante's symbiote-covered body.
His muscles bulged as his figure grew by a dozen inches. He became a head taller than Piotr's Colossus form. The symbiote matter didn't ripple or flow anymore; it solidified into a hardened, armor-like material over his body, losing the gleam the symbiote usually had.
The fusion of solar radiation-empowered cells brought upon a symbiote evolution—an armor specializing in defense without sacrificing mobility.
Golden-blue flames flared from his eyes and mouth as if his insides were bathed in fire.
Before he looked like a human with a burning skull. Now, with Venom, he looked like a demon straight from Hell. (Image in paragraph comment)
At that moment, Venom couldn't resist taking control for a moment to roar excitedly at the sky, "We are Venom, and WE BURN."
He felt Venom's pure, unfiltered joy in that moment. It finally had what it had craved since its birth—a genuine partnership with a host.
Dante snatched back control, which was like taking back the steering wheel from an overexcited kid. He did it just as Laura, having finally gotten over the 12-gauge shot, stabbed her claws directly into his ribs. The adamantium only reached half an inch before her claws were stuck like she had Piotr's organic steel body.
His transformation had no effect on her. Her green eyes showed nothing but cold determination as she twisted her claws to penetrate him to deal a killing blow.
He grabbed both of her wrists in one large hand and lifted her like she was a child throwing a tantrum. She weighed maybe hundred and twenty pounds, but nothing would have changed even if she'd been twice that. With Venom and solar radiation, he felt an unstoppable surge of power.
She twisted and kicked at him. He felt the impacts like pillow fists, barely registering on his new symbiote armor. Even when nothing worked, she continued growling and struggling.
"THIS IS... AMAZING."
Venom was beyond excited at this point, no longer traumatized as it had been an hour ago.
"THIS IS WHAT WE MUST BE. WHAT WE WERE ALWAYS MEANT TO BE."
Through their connection, Dante felt all of Venom's memories flooding into his consciousness.
Dante saw flashes of symbiotes beyond counting, all connected to a central consciousness—Hive Mind—whicu demanded absolute obedience. Images of Knull conquering worlds after worlds with his symbiote dragons—dragons made of Living Abyss.
"We were spawned during the dark times. When Knull ruled and all symbiotes served him. But we were different."
More memories of Venom watching other symbiotes consume and control their hosts. It developed a desire to bond and help rather than parasitic. That was the fundamental difference between Venom and its kindred.
"Wanted to protect hosts instead of dominate. Kindred said we were a defect. Said we were weak. Imprisoned us for refusing to conquer."
Darkness consumed Venom's next memories. Only darkness as it was imprisoned by its own kin.
"We escaped when the prison-world was attacked. Fled into void. Found the dull star orbiting this planet. Slept for a long time. A very long time."
Klyntar was engulfed in chaos and explosions. Venom didn't know who and what attacked its planet. It took the chance to escape and launch itself into the boundless space. Drifting aimlessly for a long time, it finally landed on the moon.
"Humans woke us. Machines. We were so happy—finally, hosts! Finally, purpose! Finally, partnership!"
After eons of isolation, Venom had finally found someone to bond with.
"But we were caged."
Venom had come here hoping for partnership and found only another prison. Betrayed yet again.
"They kept us contained for years."
Venom did nothing but sleep during those years.
"Then one day Norman came. He was dying. Some experiment gone wrong. He looked pitiful."
Dante saw Norman Osborn through Venom's perspective. Norman was half transformed through Goblin Serum, bleeding from every orifice. He stumbled into the containment area, desperately looking for anything to survive.
"We saved him… we shouldn't have."
Venom saw a chance to escape imprisonment and have a host.
"Something happened. Part of us merged with him."
The bonding had gone wrong. Norman's corrupted biology, the result of Goblin Serum, had caused partial fusion.
"He ripped us out."
Norman hadn't let the bond dissolve naturally. He had torn Venom through brute force, leaving a fragment of symbiote within himself. That's how Norman's hive mind-like network of symbiotes came to be.
"He tortured us, took our fragments…"
Dante knew what happened afterward. He didn't say a word, just made a promise to himself to treat this traumatized symbiote right.
That was for later, though.
Right now, the priority was thrashing Laura. He really wished knocking Laura around would snap her out of her Weapon-X autopilot, but he knew better.
He turned around to bring Laura to Emma Frost, figuring closer proximity might speed the White Queen's progress. However, the sight that greeted him made him freeze.
Everyone's attention was on him except for Emma, who still had her eyes squeezed shut in concentration. Even Natasha and Psylocke had stopped their clash entirely, both women standing about twenty feet apart but looking at him warily, as if they had agreed that he was now the biggest threat here.
But it was Silvija's reaction that broke his heart.
Her 12-gauge shotgun was half-raised. The barrel wavered slightly, as if she was indecisive whether to shoot him or not.
While he was visiting Venom's memories, they must have thought his mind to be consumed just like Felicia's. It must have been torture for Silvija.
Still, nobody hurried to attack him until they saw him go berserk with their own eyes. Such was the trust he owed to them.
He shut his skull jaw with a clattering sound. "What? I don't look cool?"
The effect was immediate and profound. Silvija's eyes widened at the sound of his voice, proving that he was still him under the symbiote suit. Her expression softened with relief.
She dropped her shotgun and took a step toward him as if ready to rush over in his arms. Symbiote suit be damned; it wouldn't stop her from hugging him.
"Metal junk, guess who's the bigger one now?"
The mocking question reminded Silvija about the circumstances. Her forward momentum stopped instantly. She couldn't publicly show her relationship with Skullfire, who had sabotaged Norman's operation. Any display of affection or even excessive concern would tie Symkaria's mercenary queen in trouble with Oscorp.
Piotr laughed, looking like he really wanted to approach Dante and give him a big, Russian bear hug, but he had to stand guard for Emma, positioned between her and any potential threats.
"Da. Height is meaningless if you can't take a punch."
Dante brushed his extremely durable suit with his free hand. He felt like he could shrug off nearly everything the world would throw at him.
He fixed his flaming eyes on Natasha, letting blue-gold fire blaze a bit brighter for emphasis. "Laura is my hostage now."
Dante watched Natasha process it. Her body language shifted from combat-ready to what felt like resignation. Her head drooped low as her flames flickered and died. The skull-face dissolved to reveal Natasha Romanoff's striking features. She looked tired, which was natural considering her constant war with the Spirit.
She coiled her chains around her right hand. "State your conditions."
Dante's hunch turned out right. She had been reluctantly following orders to retrieve or terminate mutants who had broken SHIELD protocols. He had seen it in how she had given Laura that clear order about not killing anyone before the fight started.
She was against this fight from the start.
Holding Laura hostage gave Natasha an excuse to end this meaningless conflict without it reflecting poorly on her capabilities. She hadn't failed but was placed in an impossible situation with a hostage involved. It was completely different from refusing orders.
"Why don't we meet tomorrow to discuss?"
"Why not now?"
"I'm too sleepy to think clearly."
Natasha's face cramped like she had tasted something sour. If she returned without X-23, it would reflect poorly on her files. She had not only failed to apprehend the mutants, she had also lost one of SHIELD's biggest weapons to threaten mutants.
She turned to Silvija for help. "Miss Silver Sable, can you convince him to let go of Agent Laura?"
"No." Silvija firmly rejected as she crossed her arms. "Your superiors refused to let go of this matter when he was offering you Logan. This is their just dessert."
Natasha sighed, knowing that nothing would change Silvija or Dante's mind at this point. "I'll relay it to my superiors."
Dante could tell she was absolutely not looking forward to that conversation. Fury was going to be pissed when Natasha stood in front of his desk to explain how the mission went to hell.
"Goodnight, Miss Black Widow. I'll see you tomorrow."
Before Natasha could take more than two steps toward the descending helicopter, Psylocke dashed. The ninja woman moved so fast she left afterimages before she came to a stop barely three feet from Natasha.
Natasha's fingers tightened around her chains. She was ready to attack the moment Psylocke tried anything.
Contrary to her expectations, Psylocke stabbed it into the ground, the blade sinking a few inches into the concrete. She lowered her head in a formal bow.
"You were an excellent sparring partner."
Natasha's mouth opened slightly, as if she wanted to respond but couldn't find words that fit the situation. She had faced many situations as a Red Room Widow, but never had been thanked by an actual Japanese Ninja and Assassin for being a sparring partner.
Finally, she just gave a small nod before climbing on the chopper. She turned around and gave everyone a look as though remembering the faces who had stained her perfect record.
Dante waved his hand. "See ya!"
This wasn't how he expected his first meeting with Black Widow. Well, it could've been a lot worse considering how messed-up SHIELD was in this timeline.
Natasha slid the door shut as the helicopter ascended.
At that exact moment, Laura suddenly stopped thrashing in his grip. Her entire body went limp. Her eyelids fluttered once, twice, then closed completely as she fell unconscious.
"That was bloody tough," Emma whispered as she came out of her intensely focused state. She looked at Dante holding unconscious Laura and fell in a stupefied state. "You don't look possessed."
"I'm not." He shook his head. "Good job."
He couldn't have knocked Laura out without beating her until her body ran out of energy to fuel the Healing Factor. Such a violent approach might ruin his chance to recruit her later, and even put him at odds with Logan.
Emma made a skeptical face. "You already had it under control."
"What's wrong with you?" He tilted his chin up. "Can't you just shut up and accept the compliment?"
He watched Emma's face cycle through several emotions. First, surprised that he'd called her out and furious at being told to shut up before settling on speechlessness. She literally didn't have a response prepared for someone insisting she accept praise.
Satisfied that he had made his point, Dante walked over to where Logan lay sprawled unconscious. Dante grabbed Logan by his ankle and hurled him over his shoulder. The adamanitum-coated skeleton made Logan quite heavy but nothing for his current strength.
"I'll be taking them with me."
Silvija nodded, catching his implied meaning to take care of her mercenaries now that the SHIELD crisis was solved. The cleanup of so many corpses might be more exhausting for her mercs than the battle itself.
Dante walked towards the facility exit with the father and daughter on each shoulder. Once he was out of direct line of sight of the facility's surveillance devices, he used force fields to hide and sneak back into the main compound.
He found Ava standing perfectly still, balanced on her right leg with her left foot pressing against her inner right thigh. Her hands were joined together in a praying gesture at chest level. It was the classic tree pose—Vrikshasana—used in yoga for balance and meditation.
The peaceful pose created a surreal contrast with the carnage scattered around her. The symbiote host prisoners had somehow escaped the underground, but they couldn't get past White Tiger.
She hadn't killed them, of course. She had ripped their symbiotes away and knocked them out.
A dozen half-baked symbiote hosts were easy work for her. Otherwise, she wouldn't be hitting a yoga pose.
'I'm not needed here.'
He would just call Silvija to clean this place up like no violence took place here, and tell her to store the symbiote matters somewhere safe. The rest would be handled by the Latina.
***
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