The Plot Began to Go Off the Rails (Part 2)

The situation in the room was extremely bizarre. The first sound Venom made the instant he appeared was, "Bleurgh…"

Spider-Man was stunned. Angry and aggrieved, he said, "You… Even if our partnership hasn’t been very pleasant, you can’t do that, can you??? I thought we were friends!!!"

"I wasn’t…" Venom said with his mouth wide open. He pointed at Thor beside him, turned, and roared at him, "Get away from me, damn it…"

Thor was furious as well. "How dare you speak to me like that! I am the son of the All-Father! Prince of Asgard, you damned stowaway!"

"I’m not a stowaway, you damned humans!!"

"What does this have to do with humans?!" Spider-Man shouted at Venom. "You’re the one being rude!!"

In short, the three of them began arguing fiercely. In the end, it was Matt, who had arrived behind Spider-Man, who stopped their quarrel.

Matt gave each of them a tap with his cane before those three, who were barely more mature than kindergarteners, finally quieted down.

At last, the four of them sat on four sides of the coffee table. Venom was closest to the door, Thor sat to the left, Spider-Man to the right, and Matt sat facing them.

"Let’s first talk about what’s going on." Matt brought the conversation back on track. "Earlier, following the Bullseye lead, we found out that Kingpin seemed to be dealing in Immortality Factors."

"We discovered that Kingpin seemed to have sold a batch of Immortality Factor serums to The Hand, but something appeared to have gone wrong with the deal, and the two sides fell out."

Peter continued, "Bullseye was the one responsible for the transaction with The Hand. We got information about one of The Hand’s bases from him. I’ve been staking out that base these past few days, following their Ninjas."

"The Ninjas’ daily task is to patrol New York. Usually, their patrol routes are fixed, but today, two Ninjas went in the wrong direction. I followed them all the way here and found that they actually wanted to kill you. What’s going on?"

Matt’s tone remained calm. "The Hand is an organization that values efficiency. Though they kill without blinking, their targets are always clear. They don’t kill people who have nothing to do with them."

"How would I know why?" Thor said, equally puzzled. "Could they be after me? But I’m not even from Earth. I have no connection with anyone here, much less any grudge against that Hand organization."

At that point, all three pairs of eyes turned toward Venom. His massive body was crammed onto the tiny sofa, making him look somewhat ridiculous.

He looked completely out of place compared with the other three. Although none of them were ordinary people, at least they were humanoid. Having a several-meter-tall black monster thrown into the mix made the scene incredibly strange.

Matt lowered his voice and asked Spider-Man, "Is this the alien creature you mentioned before, the one parasitizing your body?"

He looked Venom up and down, then said, "Are you sure everything he did while parasitizing you was nagging you to do homework, interfering with your relationship with Gwen, and stopping you from going out to play???"

Even Matt himself found it hard to believe as he spoke. No matter how he looked at it, that monster did not resemble a home tutor.

"There are plenty of bad things I didn’t tell you about!" Perhaps to get back at Venom for dry-heaving at him, Peter embellished as he told Matt, "When I played basketball with other people, he wanted me to ram into them on purpose. When I paid at the convenience store, he wanted me to run off without paying. He even stole Gwen’s cheese puffs, and he ate every single chocolate cookie Aunt May baked without leaving even one!"

"I didn’t eat them all! Didn’t I leave a few? Besides, didn’t those cookies end up in your stomach too? You’re actually blaming all of it on me…" Venom roared at Spider-Man, opening his mouth full of sharp teeth.

Matt covered his forehead. "Stop arguing! Can we talk about something serious?"

Then he summarized, "I also don’t think they were likely after Thor. Thor has only been here for a few days and has had no dealings with The Hand. They shouldn’t have sent Ninjas to kill him."

"Then that only leaves…" Peter looked at Venom. "You must have caused trouble again."

"How would I know?!" Venom adamantly refused to admit it. Under Matt and Spider-Man’s questioning, he reluctantly recounted what had happened earlier.

After Venom separated from Spider-Man’s body, he had merely wanted to find an ordinary person to parasitize, rest properly, and soothe his wounded heart.

Originally, Eddie had been a fairly decent host. He was a perfectly normal person—no dozen tornadoes a day, no overwhelming black tide, and no children’s homework to teach. Venom had lived quite peacefully.

But Symbiotes affected their hosts’ emotions. Of Venom’s previous hosts, aside from Spider-Man, who had a somewhat better temper, none had been easy to deal with.

So after Eddie saw Life Foundation’s files, his anger was multiplied tenfold. He successfully enraged Life Foundation’s boss, Drake, lost his job, ended up penniless and unable to count on his next meal, and Venom had to go hungry along with him.

Venom had originally planned to find another host. But then Eddie moved here, and Venom developed allergies, suffering through vomiting and diarrhea every day until Thor discovered him.

At this, Peter looked at Venom in deep confusion. "Allergies??? Aliens can have allergies too!??"

Venom clutched his throat. "I suspect I’m allergic to people with low IQs. Bleurgh…"

Spider-Man and Thor exchanged a look. Venom dry-heaved again and said, "Ever since he moved here, it’s gotten worse, because there are really a lot of brainless people here…"

"Especially after you moved in next door!!!" Venom opened his huge mouth and shouted at Thor, "You don’t have a brain at all!!! You’re a lethal allergen, stay away from me!!!"

"Who are you calling brainless?!"

Seeing that they were about to start arguing again, Matt could only calm them down once more. "Fine. Since you’re not feeling well, go back inside first. I want to ask your host something."

After facing off with Thor for a while, the black Slime finally withdrew into Eddie’s body. He sat up from the sofa holding his head. Seeing the other three staring intently at him, he shook his head and said, "…What’s going on? Who are you two?"

"I remember two black figures trying to kill me. They looked like Ninjas from a cartoon…"

"Those really were Ninjas."

Matt then explained the current situation to Eddie.

Eddie patted his temples with his palm. "…Is that so?"

"…If they truly have a reason to kill me, it’s probably because I offended Drake, the boss of Life Foundation."

"If you’re sure you haven’t offended anyone lately, then that should be it."

"You offended Life Foundation’s boss, yet The Hand sent Assassins to kill you. That proves they may have a cooperative relationship."

Matt sat there in thought, then analyzed, "If there’s something that could connect Life Foundation and The Hand, it would only be the Immortality Factor serums."

"Our investigation found that The Hand’s recent falling-out with Kingpin may also have been because of the Immortality Factor serums. Kingpin sold a batch of them to The Hand, but the deal eventually caused them to fall out. Could Life Foundation have been involved?"

Matt tapped the floor with his cane. "It seems we have a new target for our investigation. We need to find out exactly what relationship Kingpin, The Hand, and Life Foundation have with one another."

Eddie coughed harshly twice. "…I have a plan."

The other three all looked at him. Eddie raised his head and gritted his teeth. "You don’t think I’m just going to swallow this, do you? They made me lose my job, and then they actually sent people to kill me…"

His expression was grim, but his statement was extremely clear. "I saw documents in those files about Life Foundation using homeless people for human experimentation. And recently, they’ve been recruiting volunteers for Immortality Factor experiments."

Eddie breathed heavily, seeming exhausted to the extreme, yet his voice remained smooth. "We can apply as volunteers, infiltrate Life Foundation’s base, and find out what they’re really doing."

Eddie’s tone was unbelievably calm, carrying a distinctive hoarseness and low gravity. He continued, "Aside from me, who has dealt with Drake, the three of you should all meet the volunteers’ requirements. Thor can pretend to be homeless. This kid looks very young, so he also meets the requirements for a vulnerable group. And you…"

Eddie looked at Matt. "You’re blind, which also makes you part of a vulnerable group. Life Foundation has used blind people for experiments before."

"Whichever one of you successfully gets inside, we can work from both within and without. As for those two organizations you want to deal with, we can also find useful intelligence through Life Foundation."

"There’s also a backup plan. Drake has been getting a lot of attention lately and has given quite a few media interviews. I can get information on his movements from my reporter friends. If all else fails, we’ll kidnap him."

"Also, the Life Foundation researcher who contacted my ex-girlfriend mentioned in a message to her that Life Foundation had run into some trouble before. They had legal disputes to handle. That’s another lead…"

"And the Immortality Factor serums came from vampires. When I reported on the vampire invasion, I met several police officers who took part in that operation. We can…"

He listed seven or eight plans in fits and starts, leaving almost nothing out and using every available clue. After he finished, the entire room fell silent for a full minute.

Matt looked at Eddie. "Were you really a reporter before?"

"Of course I…" At that point, even Eddie froze. He did not know why he had suddenly been able to formulate so many plans. "These plans just appeared in my head. I don’t know why either…"

"Looks like you have a talent for it," Matt said with a sigh.

"Actually, I think the first plan is the most feasible." Peter assessed, "The three of us can apply as volunteers. One of us has to get selected, right? At worst, we’ll just make ourselves look more miserable."

"I think the first and second plans can proceed in parallel." Matt was more cautious. "Infiltrating Life Foundation to find documents and clues is important, but keeping an eye on Drake is equally important. If he directly contacts The Hand, we’ll find out what they’re really planning."

"You three apply as volunteers. I’ll keep an eye on Drake," Eddie said.

"Can you really do it?" Peter asked Eddie. "Someone told me before that surveillance and counter-surveillance aren’t easy. Without professional training, there’s a good chance you’ll be spotted while tailing someone."

Matt added, "And The Hand is still hunting you. If you investigate Drake, aren’t you walking right into a trap?"

Eddie hesitated too. He did not know where he had gotten the confidence to say that. Then, a voice sounded in his mind. Tell them you can do it.

Eddie jumped up from the sofa in fright. He looked around suspiciously and said, "What was that? Who are you?!"

You’re so stupid you’re killing me. You still haven’t noticed me?

"I…"

My name is Venom. Don’t ask anything else. Your brain can’t understand it. You only need to tell them that you can do it.

Eddie stood frozen in place, wondering whether he had truly gone insane. Yet he still said involuntarily, "Trust me. I can do it."

Then the other three saw his facial muscles twitch, as if he had become a different person in an instant. His grim, cold expression was somewhat terrifying as he said in a deep voice:

"Because I’m Eddie Brock."

One word: stitch!