----
Night had settled over New York City, but the skyline wasn't still.
A black blur swung from rooftop to rooftop, barely more than a shadow.
"Damn it... You nearly attacked Aunt May!" Peter growled beneath his mask, voice tight with guilt and panic.
"I'm hungry," ca the deep, gravelly voice in his head a voice that wasn't his.
Peter's eye lenses narrowed.
"I'll grab you a rotisserie chicken when I get back."
"I want at. I want people."
"Absolutely not!" Peter snapped, furious. He'd been struggling with this... thing ever since his suit started talking back. What was once his faithful red-and-blue was now an oil-black monstrosity that whispered to him constantly.
The entity had a na—Venom.
It gave him speed. Strength. Reflexes, unlike anything he'd ever felt. It even improved his webbingcgenerating its own on-demand, stronger, faster, and infinite.
But the cost?
His mind.
The black, tar-like substance he'd found near Oscorp weeks ago he realized now it hadn't just bonded to him. It was consuming him. From within.
"I said I'm hungry!"
"You almost hurt May!" Peter shouted, crouched atop a rooftop, digging his fingers into the mask like he could claw the voice out of his head.
Black sli oozed from his body, stretching and slithering across his limbs. From it erged a grotesque face white fangs, pupil-less eyes.
"You didn't choose ," Venom snarled. "I chose you. You are my host. I give you strength. You help hunt."
"Hunt who?"
Venom's tone darkened. "The Life Foundation. And their leader Riot."
Peter blinked. "Riot?"
"The one who betrayed . The one who left to die. You help kill him and I'll leave you."
Peter's mind reeled. Riot. Life Foundation. Suddenly the puzzle pieces fit.
He rembered the recent news conference where Carlton Drake, CEO of the Life Foundation, unveiled a self-regenerating treatnt for broken bones using a bio-engineered organism.
Peter had paid attention, especially since Oscorp was researching similar self-healing sprays.
It was the sa black goo.
The sa species.
The sa symbiote.
"But they're based in San Francisco..."
"You know where to go."
Peter sighed, tension boiling under his skin. He couldn't tell Stark not now. Tony was too busy managing his Illuminati ambitions. And he wasn't ready to trust Dr. Nolan with his identity.
Besides, if the Life Foundation was abducting the holess for experintation, like Venom claid, then this mission was justified.
So, he took a breath.
And he leaped into the night headed west.
...
anwhile, in Oscorp Labs
Nolan stared at the glowing green vial in his hand. Inside it swirled the culmination of dozens of cellular trials: the Mutagenic Shifter Serum a fusion of Red Hulk's gamma-absorption and Mystique's molecular adaptability.
All he needed now was ignition.
He lay back in a nutrient chamber as the pod sealed around him, subrging his body in viscous healing fluid. Before him, a calibrated gamma ray cannon powered up.
"A.E.L.R., begin the sequence."
The voice of his AI assistant replied instantly. "Confird."
A vibranium syringe pierced his arm, injecting the serum directly into his bloodstream. Nolan barely flinched but he felt it.
The formula hit like lava.
Gamma rays blasted against his skin. Muscles convulsed. Bones scread under pressure. It felt as if every fiber of his being was lting and then reforging itself inside a sun.
His body absorbed the radiation with ruthless efficiency, converting every pulse into strength. The surrounding fluid began to vaporize as heat radiated off him, only to be reabsorbed through his pores.
Then ca the real transformation.
In his mind's eye, the ditative sphere he used to visualize his inner world cracked and shattered.
His cells weren't just evolving. They were rebuilding.
Mitochondria fragnted and restructured into hyper-efficient energy cores, multiplying by the dozen within every cell. Radiation no longer hard him.
It fed him.
Even his previous Steel Body Cells, thought to be the peak of mutation, rged seamlessly with this new form.
Bones hardened. Tendons aligned. Muscles are compressed into coils of untapped force.
Nolan opened his eyes.
"Run a scan," he ordered calmly.
"Vitals stable. The radiation absorption ratio is active. Strength output estimated... one-hundred and fifty tons baseline."
He raised a brow. "Not bad."
Red Hulk and the base Hulk hovered around 100 tons under normal conditions. This wasn't just an upgrade.
It was a quantum leap.
"And the radiation conversion efficiency?"
"One dose of gamma radiation increases strength by approximately 100 kilograms," A.E.L.R. replied. "Ultraviolet or solar exposure yields the sa results, but at fifteen tis the required dose. Mitochondrial latency suggests a delay in peak absorption under low-yield radiation."
Nolan nodded. "Expected. I'll optimize the matrix later."
He stepped from the pod, steam curling off his skin as if nothing had happened. To him, this was routine.
Then A.E.L.R.'s alert chid again.
"Sir. The target Venom-afflicted Spider-Man has departed New York. Destination: San Francisco. Estimated objective: Life Foundation."
Nolan's eyes narrowed.
Perfect timing.
He reached for his coat.
"Good. Let's pay them a visit."
----
[Support with 100 PowerStones = 1 Bonus Chapter]
For early access to advanced Chapters on p@treon:
P@treon/iamxeno
Thank you so much for your support and for reading!q
Reviews
All reviews (0)