Friendly Neighbor, Toxin

Eddie walked to the room’s door, pressed himself against it, and peered outside through the peephole with his left eye.

The moment he saw what was outside, he sucked in a sharp breath. His still-groggy mind instantly cleared, a chill ran down his spine, and he could no longer voice a single complaint.

Outside the door, dust filled the corridor. The front door to the bald brute’s neighboring apartment directly opposite had been shattered open, revealing a dark, unlit living room.

Inside, two tall, powerfully built humanoid shadows were locked in combat.

In mere moments, the furniture in the living room was sent flying, stone walls collapsed, and the ceiling caved in, making the entire apartment building shake and tremble.

The muffled, thunderous sounds of brutal fighting were accompanied by the screams and cries for help from tenants in the surrounding apartments…

This was practically a disaster scene!

"This is front-page news material." His professional instincts kicked in, and Eddie muttered under his breath. But as the shaking grew stronger, he quickly realized that this was not the time to think about a news report.

If he lost his life later, he would become the protagonist of the news report!

First, get out and make sure he was safe!

Eddie took a deep breath, gathered his courage, unlocked the door, and prepared to shove it open and sprint for the stairs at the end of the corridor.

But the instant he finished unlocking it, there was a boom. The door shook violently, and Eddie snatched both hands back.

Something had slammed into his door!

Uneasy but still clinging to a sliver of hope, Eddie put his eye to the peephole again. This time, instead of seeing outside, he came face-to-face with a huge, pale eyeball.

Eye to eye.

Even though Eddie knew that no one outside could see through the security peephole, he still shuddered as though he had fallen into an ice cellar.

That was definitely not a human eye!

Cold sweat streamed down Eddie’s forehead as he kept backing away from his front door. When he reached the corner of the living room, the door exploded free from the wall and flew inside.

Along with the door came two humanoid monsters nearly two meters tall, exposed beneath the bright lights and directly within Eddie’s field of vision as the apartment’s owner!

Eddie dared to swear that, even as a well-informed reporter who had seen countless things and never missed an episode of Animal World, he had never seen a terrifying creature like the ones that had just broken into his home.

One of the monsters had completely white eyes, hideous fangs, and swollen black muscle fibers all over its body. White markings resembling flame burns ran across its chest. It was Toxin in its fully covered form.

The other monster had gleaming green eyes, dark brown skin, muscles covered in hard lumps, several rows of barbs along its back, and sharp claws. It was Bili, one of the three symbiotes that had descended upon New York and remained at large.

What they had in common was the savage, violent, frenzied air emanating from them. Every inch of their muscles seemed born for battle, brimming with strength.

"You are not one of our kind from the symbiote planet. You are an aberration! You must die!"

Bili roared hoarsely, gripping Toxin by the throat with one hand as it charged forward and kept forcing him deeper into the apartment.

Toxin grabbed Bili’s arm with both hands. His feet sank deep into the floorboards, carving two smooth furrows backward beneath his soles.

"You in the back, get the hell out of the way!" Toxin growled. Eddie froze for a moment, then hurried from the corner to the bathroom on the other side.

The moment Eddie moved away, Toxin abruptly stopped. He clasped Bili’s hand with both hands, his arm muscles swelling as he forced it off his throat, then spun and hurled Bili over his shoulder into the corner wall.

Boom!

The wall in the corner collapsed like paper, leaving a gaping hole. Bili landed headfirst in a heap of rubble, with only two thick legs sticking up.

Seeing such exaggerated destructive power, Eddie’s mouth fell open. The first thought that flashed through his mind was, It’s over. I’m going to have to pay the landlord for the repairs…

"What are you standing around for? Get out of here!" Toxin glared at Eddie with his white eyes, and there was unexpectedly a hint of neighborly concern in his attitude.

"Okay!" Eddie nodded like a pecking chicken, pressed his back against the wall, skirted around the pile of rubble where Bili lay, and ran toward the door.

Eddie had barely taken a few steps when Bili let out a low roar and flipped over at lightning speed. Rubble flew everywhere, dust billowed, and a sharp, dark brown gleam flashed through it.

Before Toxin could dodge, he suffered a heavy blow. A gigantic dark brown spear pierced through his chest and burst out his back, black liquid splattering across the floor like blood.

"Damn it." Toxin struggled hoarsely and reached for the spear shaft before him, trying to stop it, but Bili held the other end in its hand.

"You’re finished." Bili laughed viciously, charged forward, and exerted force, lifting Toxin’s feet off the ground with the spear before driving its tip into the wall beside the door.

"It won’t be that easy." Once Toxin realized he could not break free, he voluntarily released the spear shaft and switched from defense to attack, swinging both hands at Bili.

In that brief instant, Toxin’s arms transformed and stretched, turning into black spikes with spiraling drill tips—

Squelch!

Bili’s laughter abruptly stopped. It looked down to see that the twin spikes had also pierced through its chest, dark brown liquid streaming down them.

"You!" Bili stepped backward, trying to pull its body away from the spiral spikes.

But Toxin reacted faster, joining the tips of the two spikes together. It looked as though a chain had locked onto the bones of Bili’s host within.

Bili could retreat no farther and could only keep both hands clenched around the spear shaft.

"Now that’s more like it." Toxin smiled.

They had suffered mutual injuries and fallen into a deadlock, connected as one.

"You’re pretty good, but my host is clearly much stronger. In the end, I’ll still be the winner." Bili sneered, gripping the spear shaft tightly to keep the impaled Toxin from pulling free.

At those words, Toxin pursed his lips and fell silent. The fully covered monster bodies of both sides were dissolving, but Toxin was clearly dissolving faster. His head had already melted away enough to reveal the face of the bald brute beneath.

Just then, a surprised voice sounded from the side. "N-Neighbor?"

Toxin glanced over and saw that Eddie had not left the apartment. His back was pressed against the wall as he watched them from a safe distance of five meters away.

"Are you okay?" Eddie asked Toxin nervously. He had not forgotten that Toxin’s two kind warnings had saved his life.

"I’m fine, but I won’t be for long." Toxin gave a bitter smile. Then an idea struck him, and he rasped urgently, "Do you have gas in your apartment?"

"Yes. Why?" Eddie was stunned.

"Turn on the valve and let the gas leak in here. Hurry!" Toxin said.

Bili did not know what gas was, but its instincts warned it not to let Toxin have his way. With a twisted, vicious expression, it warned Eddie, "Kid, I advise you to leave now. Otherwise, once I finish this aberration, I’ll tear you apart and swallow you whole!"

Eddie had been somewhat hesitant, but after hearing Bili’s words, he shrugged and headed for the kitchen. With a faint sigh, he said, "Just because you threatened me, I’m going to see this through with you today!"