The Lethal Protector of Rome

by green_tea_and_honey

Summary:

Eddie Brock is adjusting to his new routine very well. He's a talented but eccentric reporter by day, and a semi-violent vigilante at night thanks to his new parasite Venom.

But then two teenagers approach him, rambling on about gods and monsters, and that they're the children of Roman gods, and that they need his help to save the world. (And Eddie thought he was crazy)

Well, it'll make a good story to see what they're fussing about.

Right?

Notes:

AHAHAHA SO

venom was going to be the villain of the second book, believe it or not. but i read Hyaluronic's 'Broken Chords' and remembered that Eddie and Venom are kind of awesome so

this book is happening at the same time as 'Bring on the Monsters, Bring on the Real World', so

anyway enjoy

Chapter 1: The Symbiosis

The Manticore wailed, and collapsed, body riddled with silver arrows.

Several silvery wolves bounded next to it, snarling deeply at the disappearing corpse. A teenage girl came out of the woods, staring at the dust that was once a Manticore. She had short, black spiky hair, and punk eyeliner circling her bright blue eyes, glaring at something only she seemed to see.

“Thalia! Did you get it?” Several other girls came out of the forest, each holding a silver bow with a quiver of arrows strapped to their backs.

The punk girl-Thalia-nodded. “Yeah.” She knelt down, examining the ground as if looking for something extra. “We haven’t seen an active Manticore since Kronos.” She muttered.

The Huntresses looked at each other, nervous. “Kronos is gone.” One said, sounding as though she was trying to convince herself.

“I know.” Thalia said. “Just…” She sighed, standing up, hugging her silver jacket close to her. A harsh wind blew through the group, and the Huntresses shivered. It shouldn’t be this cold, even in the wilderness of upstate Washington. Thalia kicked the dirty snow. “Let’s make camp.”

She turned, walking back into the forest. The others followed, except for one girl, who paused when she heard something shuffle in the bushes.

Cautiously, she crept forward, arrow already nocked into her bow. Wincing at the snow crunching under her feet as if the sounds were gunshots, she inched forward, rising up over the bush, weapon ready to fire.

She froze, confused. A large lump of what looked like slime lay on the ground, squirming pathetically. It was jet black like a void, with red lines running through it like veins, pulsing, almost as if it had a heartbeat…

The thing-whatever it was-lunged at her, and before she could scream, the thing had wrapped itself around her face, choking her, blocking everything. It was complete darkness, and she couldn’t breath, couldn’t move. She couldn’t feel anything except the strange feeling that she was sinking underwater, and the pulsing of a heartbeat in her ear, but the heartbeat was not her own-

She blinked, and she was fine. Standing alone in the snow, gripping her bow and arrow. She looked around, confused.

“Phoebe! You coming?” Someone called.

Phoebe shook her head, clenching her hand. She was fine...better than fine, actually. She felt strong.

“I’m coming.” Phoebe said, following the other Huntresses back to camp.

Chapter 2: Venom Does Not Appreciate Gen Z

Notes:

sorry guys venom is lowkey a boomer.

only in the sense in which he has no idea what the deal with 'kids and their tik toks these days, i cant keep up, eddie help'

“Eddie. Eddie. Hey Eddie. Eddie, don’t ignore me.”

The deep, rasping voice in Eddie Brock’s head became more consistent. He sighed, wincing slightly when thunder rumbled through the sky. Thunderstorms weren’t all too common in San Francisco, but when they did appear, they didn’t disappoint. He held the flimsy umbrella closer to himself.

“What do you want? We’re not stopping for a snack. It’s cold, rainy, and we’re gonna be late.” Eddie scolded the symbiote. A few passing people glanced at him, but a man talking to himself wasn’t the strangest thing they had ever seen, so the glances were quickly directed away.

“Street food. I’m hungry.” Venom said, almost...whining? Well, that was unsurprising. For being able to take the full force of a machine gun, Venom seemed incapable of handling anything that wasn’t exactly what he wanted.

“You’re always hungry. And no, that guy’s selling hot dogs.” Eddie glanced at the vendor, who looked miserable in the rain.

“And?” Venom prompted.

“So that’s pig intestine at best. Being street hot dogs, it’s probably rats.” Eddie said.

Venom growled, sounding excited. “Delicious.”

“You’re disgusting.” Eddie smiled, though. “Tell you what, stay quiet at work today, you can pick dinner as long as it’s mildly sanitary.”

“Define mildly sanitary.”

“Something that’s not street food, and something that most humans would consider food.” Eddie said.

He heard Venom grumble. “...fine.”

“Alright, you whiny baby.” Eddie said, ducking into the building for his new job, the San Francisco Times. It was a tiny, hole in the wall newspaper, and it frankly made Eddie miss his old job. But his boss wouldn’t let him come back, even after the story he had given on the Life Foundation.

Still, the Times job paid the bills, and he had risen quickly among the ranks as one of the best reporters. And hey, it wasn’t the Daily Bugle.

“Hey, Mr. Brock.” The new intern-what was her name? Jenna?-waved from behind the desk, sipping iced coffee. She was nice, if a little empty headed. She was fresh out of school, and still working on not being won over by flattery from people who wanted to look good in the paper. “Boss put a new assignment on your desk.”

“Great.” Eddie said. “Do you know what it is?”

“Something about new anti-homeless architecture.” She said, glancing at him.

“Ooh! Ooh!” Venom’s voice said excitedly in the back of Eddie’s head. “You said the mayor was being paid to install that? Something on that?”

“Wonderful.” Eddie said. “Can you call the mayor, see if he has time for an interview?”

Jenna grinned. “Hell yeah, Mr. Brock. Spill that tea.” Jenna lifted her iced coffee in salute.

Eddie smiled, a bit clueless, going to his desk, tucked nicely in the corner. “Spill that tea?” Venom asked.

Eddie shrugged. “I think it means exposing people? But I think it’s more like, rumor based. God, Jenna makes me feel old.”

“It’s not your fault.” Venom assured him. “Young humans are very strange.”

“Damn right.” Eddie said, taking a deep breath, flipping through the papers, already seeing a wonderful story forming in his head. He glanced outside and froze.

In the middle of the street, there was a wolf. A wolf may have been an incorrect word, however, as this “wolf” was at least seven feet tall. It had dark fur, with an odd tint that looked almost red. It stared at him with silvery eyes.

Eddie felt nauseous.

Flanking the wolf were two people, both in their teen years. One was a tall, muscular Asian kid, gripping an arrow and quiver. The other-a girl-had darker skin, and long, curly cinnamon-colored hair. She gripped a golden sword, the same color as her eyes. Both were wearing a purple T-shirt with text on it that Eddie couldn’t make out.

He blinked, and they were gone.

“Did...did you see that?” He asked. When he got no reply, he glanced over, and nearly yelped. Venom had halfway detached himself from Eddie, stretching himself out on a long, tentacle-like appendage in an attempt to snatch a donut from the table next to Jenna.

Eddie smacked the symbiote, and Venom hissed, retreating back to Eddie. “I’m hungry.” He whined. It was definitely whining this time.

“Suck it up. Someone is gonna see you. Do you wanna go back to the lab?” He whispered, giving Jenna a reassuring smile when she looked up, confused. When she turned away, he sighed, running his hand through his hair. “You gotta stop doing that.” He whispered. “It’s bad enough people think I’m nuts when I talk to you on the streets. What are they gonna do if they see you?”

Venom didn’t answer, pouting. Eddie sighed. “Look, just...don’t do anything stupid. Please? I really, really can’t afford to get fired, or snatched up-”

“I don’t want to go back to a lab either.” Venom grumbled.

“I know, I know.” Eddie said, looking through the papers again. “I’m sure you can find some way to entertain yourself.”

“Whatever.” Venom said, sounding like a petulant teenager. When Eddie thought about it, that’s all Venom really was. The thought made him smile.

While he read over the reports, Eddie’s mind wandered away. The possibility of being caught as the host for an alien symbiote crossed his mind a few times, but usually he dismissed the thought, seeing as how he was pretty sure Venom could swallow a tank and be just fine.

The thought still gave him chills, however. Say he and Venom managed to get separated, as that seemed the most likely way they would lose a fight. Venom couldn’t survive for long without a host on his own, and Eddie wasn’t sure he would even be able to bond to another host after having been with him for so long.

And say they managed to get Venom stable somehow. He’d be locked up in a cage, experimented on, miserable, and alone. Maybe discarded when whoever was in charge decided (inevitably) that Venom wasn’t going to cooperate, and he was too dangerous.

Oh, and Eddie himself would probably be poked and prodded a few times, and then shot in a back alley.

What was the Life Foundation like? Eddie thought, not entirely sure he wanted to know the answer. Two other symbiotes died there, he knew that, and he assumed Venom at least knew them in passing. How did they die? Was it the experiments? Or did the symbiotes refuse to submit to the humans and were lying in wait for Riot, only for Riot to dismiss their deaths so easily?

“It stopped raining.” Venom said suddenly, an air of confusion in his voice.

“That’s how weather works.” Eddie said, trying to chase away such dark thoughts.

“Not so quickly.” Venom insisted.

Eddie looked outside, somewhat surprised to see that, indeed, every single cloud that had been covering the sky before was now gone, replaced with a clear blue sky. “Hm.” He said.

“And that looks suspicious.” Venom said, and Eddie saw what he meant. The boy he had seen minutes before was ducking into an alley. Eddie felt a prickle of anxiety, but he couldn’t explain why. “We should check it out.” Venom said.

“You want to eat him.” Eddie said, and sighed.

“God, yes! It’s been, what, weeks since I got to eat someone!” Venom said.

Eddie sighed, standing up. “Hey, Jenna, gonna go on a coffee run. Cover for me if the Boss gets mad, will ya?”

Jenna gave him a thumbs up. “No problemo.”

Eddie walked outside, pausing at the noticeable difference in temperature. It was oddly cold, despite being March, and San Francisco. Eddie hugged his thin jacket closer to himself, walking to where he had last seen the boy.

“You know, we should get coffee after this.” Venom mused.

“Focus up.” Eddie said.

“Oh, right, of course,” Venom said, sarcasm dripping from his voice. “I need to be totally focused to take down a random teenager. If he says ‘spill the tea’ or any nonsense like that, I’m gonna to eat his hands, and only his hands.”

“Sure.” Eddie smiled, entertained. He wandered into the alley, looking around for the boy aimlessly.

“Hey.” A small voice said, and Eddie whirled around, seeing the girl with the purple T-shirt standing behind him. She had her golden sword drawn. “Don’t freak out.” She said unhelpfully.

Eddie turned to see the other boy standing at the other end of the alley, bow and arrow ready to fire. Eddie sighed, looking down, kicking the ground as if defeated. Just as quick, he turned to the girl, swinging his arm out as if throwing a bowling ball.

Venom knew this move, sending himself out as a long black tendril to grab the girl and throw her, stunning her to get her out of the way so they could deal with the seemingly bigger threat, that being the boy.

But the girl was quick, dodging and swinging her sword down on Venom, who screamed, the sound escaping from Eddie’s throat painfully. “Stop!” The boy shouted, his voice sounding much to juvenile. He raised his bow and arrow.

“Venom!” Eddie shouted, a bit panicked.

“I’m taking over.” Venom decided, and the symbiote appeared in full form, enveloping Eddie’s body, growing several feet. Venom screamed, a battle cry that sent most criminals sprinting with dark spots on their crotch.

But the girl only adjusted her stance. “We don’t want to hurt you.” She said.

“Shame.” Venom hissed. “I want-OW!” He jerked, and this time Eddie felt the sharp pain too. The boy had shot them in the shoulder with an arrow.

Venom snarled, turning, long reptilian tongue flicking like a cat’s tail. He lunged, but the boy disappeared-in his place was a tiny beetle.

Venom paused, thrown off by this new development. Before he could react, the boy appeared behind him, next to the girl. “Hazel!” He said, probably the girl’s name.

Hazel stretched out her hands, and suddenly, Venom was falling. “What the hell is happening?!” Eddie said shrilly. Almost prophetic, he was thinking about what to do if they lost a fight, and here they were.

“I don’t know!” Venom said. Hazel seemed to have made some kind of pit appear, that was only getting deeper and deeper, so deep that Venom-even with his abilities-couldn’t jump out.

The symbiote wailed and screamed like a wounded animal, and clawed at the sides of the pit, but it was no use. They were trapped.

“Oh my God oh my God oh my God-” Eddie mumbled. Venom snarled, but he was pacing the thin confines of the pit, seemingly just as stumped.

“I’m taking over.” Eddie said, and Venom retreated with a snarl, and the two teens stared down at a shaky, pale, but very much normal looking man.

“I don’t suppose you kids have a reason for this.” Eddie said.

Hazel winced. “You tried to kill me.”

“You came for me first.” Eddie corrected.

The boy looked in, unsure. “Lupa told us we needed to find you.”

“Who the hell is Lupa?” Eddie snapped.

The pit suddenly disappeared, and Eddie stumbled, confused. How…? He didn’t have much time to process this, as suddenly he was staring into the face of the wolf he had seen earlier.

The wolf stared at him evenly, misty eyes alight with intelligence, seeming to see right through Eddie.

“Holy shit.” Eddie breathed.

The wolf continued to stare. Fascinating, a female voice said in Eddie’s head. He winced. It was entirely unlike Venom, who he knew was there and inside him. This wolf was speaking to him like any other person would-she just happened to not move her mouth while doing so.

Two beings united, each weak, but together stronger than a hurricane, the wolf mused.

Eddie didn’t know what to say, and Venom was oddly silent.

The cosmos are shifting, the wolf said. Ancient and evil monsters, both from your world and our’s, rise from the depths of hell to take what is most important. We cannot allow this.

“That’s a damn good speech.” Eddie managed to say.

The wolf’s lip curled. You must help defeat them, or risk watching the world sink into madness. We are depending on you, Edward Brock and Venom.

Eddie blinked, and the wolf was gone. The two kids stared at him, as if awaiting his response.

Venom decided to make an appearance, his head sitting comfortably on Eddie’s shoulder like some sort of deranged parrot. “So…” He said, sounding disappointed. “I guess eating them is off the table.”

Chapter 3: Pluto

Notes:

yall i am ROOTING for the sonic movie i hope it does great

Hazel sipped her coffee delicately, looking almost like a princess. Frank-the boy-had a sandwich, but he was staring at it with no interest.

Eddie was on his second sandwich, surprised with how hungry he was. Frank was paying, after all. He might as well get his money’s worth.

“So,” Hazel said quietly. “What do you think?”

“I think I want to know how you tossed us in a pit.” Eddie said.

“The Mist.” Hazel said. Eddie blinked.

“The Mist keeps mortals from seeing the...the more magic parts of life.” Frank said.

“I can control it,” Hazel said. “Kind of like...illusions. If I show people what they want to see, they’ll believe it, and I can bend the belief to my will to then make them believe what I want them too.”

Eddie blinked. “So...the pit wasn’t real?”

Hazel smiled. “You were jumping in place.”

Eddie took another bite of his sandwich. “But...I didn’t want to be in the pit.”

“It’s not an exact science.” Hazel admitted.

“So,” Frank said, seeming to want to redirect the conversation. “Lupa said we needed to find you.”

“You mentioned that. I take it Lupa was the monster wolf?” Eddie asked.

“A goddess.” Hazel said.

“These people are crazy. We should eat them.” Venom said in Eddie’s mind. Eddie ignored the symbiote, but filed the option away as a possible one.

“We’re demigods. Half-human, half-Roman gods.” Frank said.

Eddie smiled slightly. “If you wanna say you’re mutants or drugged up, just say so. I don’t care. You don’t have to make up crazy shit.”

“We’re not,” Hazel said. “Trust me, this is the least crazy thing you’ll learn today. My dad is Pluto, god of the Underworld.”

“No relation to the planet or the dog?” At Hazel’s sigh, Eddie held up his hands in mock surrender. “Alright, alright: ex-planet.”

“What?!” Venom said. “Pluto doesn’t exist?!”

“I wish this was a joke,” Frank said. “Really, it’d make our lives easier. My dad is Mars, god of war.”

“I don’t suppose your shapeshifting skills come from dad.” Eddie said.

“No,” Frank shook his head. “My ancestor was a child of Neptune. I got that from him. It’s been in my family for a while...but that’s not important.”

“They have very interesting views about what is and what isn’t important.” Venom chimed in. “Also, no one is answering my Pluto question.”

“We’re from Camp Jupiter.” Frank continued. “It’s a safe place for Roman demigods to come. We train them, prepare them for life, and offer a safe place for them to live and raise their families. I’m one of the praetors. One of the two leaders, I guess.”

“You’re like, twelve.” Eddie said in disbelief, looking at Hazel.

Hazel wrinkled her nose. “I’m fourteen.”

“Same thing. How the hell do a couple of kids own, what is it, like a military camp?” Eddie said.

“Trust me. We’re competent. We’ve seen battle. Probably too much.” Hazel shook her head.

Eddie chuckled, amused by the mental image of Hazel and Frank in an active war, even if they had soundly beat him and Venom. “Sorry, it’s hard to take you seriously when you can’t legally drive.”

“This is serious,” Frank said. “If Lupa is coming to us, to you directly, we need to take action. I...I know we probably didn’t make the best impression, but I did buy you lunch.”

“He makes a good point. And hello? Pluto?!” Venom said.

“What do you want me to do?” Eddie asked.

“We want to talk to someone else. Reyna, the other praetor. She’s at Camp Jupiter, and she’s better with these things than we are. Maybe she has some idea as to what’s going on.” Hazel said.

“I’m not going to a secondary location with you crazies.” Eddie said.

Hazel glanced at Frank, the two seeming to have a silent exchange. “I can pay you.” Hazel said. “A lot.”

“Sure.” Eddie rolled his eyes.

Hazel held up her hand in a motion for Eddie to wait and left. Eddie watched her go, and Frank looked very awkward. “So...you two together?” Eddie asked.

Frank blinked. “H-how-”

“I’m good at guessing.” Eddie shrugged. “You two meet at a crazies anonymous meeting or something?”

Frank sighed. “Look, I know this is all...very weird. Trust me, I reacted kind of the same way. But just...try to keep an open mind when you go.”

“How do you know I’ll go?” Eddie said.

As if waiting for her cue, Hazel walked in, putting something on the table. A huge nugget of gold.

Eddie felt the color drain from his face. “What...did you rob a store or something?!”

“Another one of my talents.” Hazel said. “It’s yours if you come with us.”

Eddie carefully picked the nugget up, weighing it in his hands. It felt real, although Eddie hadn’t really held many gold nuggets to tell. “How…?”

“Like I said, one of my talents.” Hazel said. “We’re going to Oakland Hills. Just come with us. Talk to Reyna. That’s it.”

Eddie stared at the nugget, a million thoughts swirling through his head. “You’re crazy.” He said again.

Hazel smiled, somehow knowing that he was in agreement. Could she read minds? Her gold eyes seemed to stare through him. It was unnerving.

“We’re on the bus in two hours.” Frank said, standing up. “Hope to meet you there.”

“I can’t take off work like that…” Eddie said.

Hazel smiled, wriggling her fingers like a cheesy witch. “Leave it to me.”

The two stood up, leaving Eddie alone in the restaurant with a half-eaten sandwich and a nugget of gold. “So...Pluto.” Venom said, impatient.

“It got demoted from a planet. It’s a dwarf planet. Happy?!” Eddie snapped, ignoring the sideways looks he got.

“What?!” Venom said. “No. That’s tragic. Why would I be happy about that?!”

Chapter 4: The Lost Ones

Notes:

my makeup palette is taking to long to ship and they took the x-files off amazon prime even tho i was in the middle of an episode so anyway im gonna fight jeff bezos

Eddie refused to take a nap on the bus there, despite being rather tired.

Vaguely, Eddie formed a half-sensical idea of a luxury travel bus that served coffee. Maybe it could be sponsored by Starbucks or something. People loved Starbucks.

Hazel and Frank sat in the two seats in front of Eddie, whispering to each other. “What are they talking about?” Venom asked. Eddie shrugged, sitting back against the headrest.

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Venom asked.

“What do you mean?” Eddie asked.

“Well, they’re strangers. And they’re crazy. What if they attack again?” Venom said.

“Then we’ll beat them up.” Eddie said, ignoring the sideways look he got from the lady across the aisle from him.

“Mhm.” Venom said. “Well, we were thrown in a pit.”

“It wasn’t a real pit. This time, if she tries to pull that, we know it’s not real. It’s like the Matrix.” Eddie said.

“The what?” Venom asked, still sounding uneasy. “Is this another piece of media I have yet to see?”

“Yeah. Don’t worry about it, buddy. It’ll be fine.” Eddie said, despite the fact that he was nervous himself. He couldn’t help it. If Venom was nervous…

“We’re here.” Hazel poked her head back, and then frowned. “You okay?”

“Yeah.” Eddie said, standing up. “Why?”

“You kinda look like you’re about to puke.” Hazel said.

“Hm.” Eddie said noncommittally. He followed the two teens off the bus, trying to look nonchalant. He pulled his hoodie closer to himself. A brisk chill swept through the area, out of place and foreboding.

“Alright. We gotta go to the Caldecott tunnel.” Frank said, waving for the other two to follow him.

“Caldecott-why?” Eddie asked. He had been through it many times. There was no camp near it.

“There’s a secret service tunnel near it.” Frank said. “Come on, Reyna’s probably already waiting for us.”

“What does she even want? Do you even know why you need me?” Eddie asked, following the two teens.

“Like we said, if Lupa sought you out, you’re needed for something big.” Hazel glanced at him. “How do you do that, by the way?”

Eddie blinked. “Do what?”

“I think she’s referring to me.” Venom’s head emerged from Eddie’s shoulder, grinning grotesquely at Hazel. “He has no talents.” Venom nodded his head towards Eddie. “It’s all me.”

“So...that’s just...living in you?” Frank asked, looking uneasy.

Eddie shrugged. “Something like that, yeah. He’s an alien. And...well, you saw what he did. Usually we can beat up anyone pretty easily.”

Hazel looked amused. “So...how did you two even come across each other?”

“It’s a little complicated. I used to be a reporter, and I was doing this investigation on the Life Foundation-” Eddie paused as Frank looked back, surprised.

“I heard about that place. Wasn’t it like...super unethical?” He asked.

“Yeah. Extremely so. Experimenting on people, hiding information, the whole nine yards.” Eddie said. He leaned away from a car that rushed past him, honking loudly.

Venom ducked away from the car, looking irritated. “This idiot nearly got himself killed, but I saved him.” He said proudly.

Hazel and Frank looked at each other. Eddie sighed, swatting Venom lightly. The latter yelped. “Anyway, so I snuck in and found Venom. Along with some of his friends. The Life Foundation had sent a rocket to space and brought back a few other symbiotes and were running experiments on them and stuff. Venom got out and decided I was his ticket out.” Eddie shrugged.

“So...I’m assuming that didn’t go well.” Hazel said.

“Yeah. They chased me back, and Venom beat them up. It was kinda cool, but then I got thrown off a motorcycle and broke, like, all my bones.” Eddie winced at the memory, certain at the time that he was dying. “Turns out, symbiotes can heal their host bodies at a super fast rate. As in, ten minutes. That’s why they were experimenting on them, to find some sort of miracle cure for all drug. At least, that’s what the point was at first.”

“People got greedy.” Frank guessed. “And something bad happened.”

“A few people got greedy.” Venom grumbled.

“One of the symbiotes had escaped when the rocket first landed. He was called Riot. Evidently, Venom and his buddies originally came to take over the world and stuff, but I guess Venom changed his mind through the power of friendship.” Eddie grinned, amused when Venom scowled at the assessment.

“I can go back to my original plan at any time.” The symbiote grumbled.

“Sure you will, pal. Anyway, Riot and Carlton Drake-the CEO of the Foundation-decided that the best course of action was indeed to take over the world and bring all the other symbiotes to Earth. We stopped him. And…” Eddie shrugged. “That brings us to now I guess.”

“What happened to the other symbiotes?” Frank asked. The question was light-hearted, just curiosity, but Venom visibly flinched, and disappeared back into Eddie’s body. Frank looked confused, and then his face fell. “Oh.”

Eddie shrugged again, unsure what to say. “Like I said, the Life Foundation wasn’t careful.”

Hazel pursed her lips, unsure what to say. What could she say? ‘I’m sorry?’ She had never met the symbiotes, and Eddie hadn’t either. He didn’t even know if they had been worth saving, but Venom refused to speak of them, so that had to count for something. Maybe not grief, but maybe loneliness. Venom would never get to go home, after all.

“Here.” Frank said, pointing ahead to the Caldecott tunnel. There was a rusty set of service steps, creaking with each step. They inched along the wall, stopping when Frank came across a dark service tunnel, desuetude from years of being ignored.

Eddie made a face. “We have to go through that?”

Hazel looked amused. “It’s fine. Trust me, you’ll like what’s on the other side.”

“Venom?” Eddie asked, but got no response. He huffed, hunching over to follow the teens through the tunnel. He wrinkled his nose. The tunnel smelled like decay, and he was certain if he turned on a light he would see rats scuttling along the floor.

Light suddenly shined brightly through the tunnel, and Eddie winced at it. Frank stepped out of the tunnel, helping Hazel down. He spread his arm. “Welcome to Camp Jupiter.”

Eddie blinked, and his mouth dropped open.

There was a grand, roaring river, crystal clear and sparkling like something out of a Disney movie. A simple stone bridge allowed access, and in front of him was a sprawling building, with marble walls and red roofs. It really did look like a set piece for a Roman gladiator movie.

“Damn.” Eddie said quietly. “I’ve come through Oakland Hills thousands of times, I...how did I never see this place?”

“It’s hidden by the Mist.” Hazel said.

“What...do you live here? Is this a fully functional town?” Eddie asked, a story already forming in his mind.

“Mhm.” Hazel nodded. “We have a training camp, a temple, New Rome is cool-”

“The scones at the cafe are great.” Frank interrupted. “Just so you know.”

“I see you’ve returned with our guest.” Eddie jumped, seeing a tall girl standing in the center of the bridge, two large dogs by her side. For some reason, one looked like it was made out of silver, and the other like it was made out of gold. She couldn’t have been older than twenty, with copper skin and dark hair pulled back in a braid. She looked more like a soldier than Frank and Hazel, for sure, clad in the shiny armor like she was going to GladiatorCon.

“Reyna.” Frank nodded. One of the dogs-the gold one-growled.

Eddie stepped back. “Jeez, did you dye that dog or something?”

The girl-Reyna-looked amused. “He’s a bit clueless.” Reyna said.

“Lupa led us to him.” Hazel said. Instantly, Reyna stiffened, looking shocked.

“Well,” She said delicately. “This puts a bit of a damper on my good news.”

“Good news?” Frank questioned.

“I received news from New York. There was...an incident. But that’s not the good part.” She patted the gold dog’s head.

“Leo is alive.”

Notes:

captain america winter soldier is the russos best movie and everything went downhill from there change my mind

Chapter 5: A Tracker

Notes:

sorry about the wait, quarantine lowkey made me want to stop existing, but we got through it alright

“Who’s Leo?” Venom said, poking his head out. The two dogs immediately barked and growled at the symbiote, and Venom growled right back.

Hazel’s hands flew to her mouth in shock. “What?! How...are you sure?!”

“Percy messaged me. He’s positive.” Reyna said, but she looked oddly grim.

Frank gave a choked laugh. “Oh my gods...how is that possible? He’s in New York?”

“We have to contact him.” Hazel said.

“I’d prefer,” Reyna said, fixing her gaze on Eddie. “If you’d explain our honored guest to me first.”

“Which one of us?” Eddie asked dryly. “And if you could like, put a leash on your spray painted dogs or something-”

“They aren’t spray painted-gods, I need a vacation.” Reyna pressed her thumb and index finger to her forehead. Eddie almost laughed. This was how his day had turned out; getting dragged to a military camp by two kindergarteners and then chewed out by a lady who probably wasn’t old enough to legally drink.

“This is Eddie Brock. And that’s-” Hazel motioned to Venom. “Venom. Venom’s an alien, I guess.”

Reyna glanced at Eddie. “And you?”

“Earth, born and raised.” Eddie said.

Reyna shook her head. “No, your godly parentage.”

Eddie blinked. “My-oh right, that’s a thing here. Uh, nope. My parents are one hundred percent human.”

Reyna looked surprised, laying a hand on the silver dog and petting it absently. “Then what made you different from everyone else that this...thing should choose you?”

“Absolutely nothing,” Venom said. “It was simply an opportunity. If you were to line up several hosts and ask me to take my pick, Eddie would be my last.”

“Jeez, don’t flatter me there, V.” Eddie muttered.

Reyna sighed. “Well, it’s certainly not the strangest thing I’ve seen...it’s up there, though.” She looked at Frank. “Are you sure Lupa led you to him?”

“Positive.” Frank said. “She said that...uh, the cosmos are descending into chaos, and we need to defeat ancient evils. Stuff like that.”

“Normal quest stuff.” Hazel said.

Reyna shook her head. “It can’t be normal if Lupa has us seeking assistance from a mortal.”

“I’m right here.” Eddie said loudly.

Reyna looked at him, seeming to only just remember he was there. “Of course.” She said. “Follow me.” She turned quickly, marching back towards the city, dogs pressed close to her sides. Eddie followed slowly, Hazel and Frank leading the way.

It really was a beautiful city, and people of various ages in varying degrees of gladiator cosplay raced around him, sometimes throwing him a confused look, but more or less ignoring him. Venom had decided to hide at that point.

“I don’t like this.” Venom said.

“I think we’ll be fine. Seriously, you of all people are worried?” Eddie asked.

“I don’t think they’ll hurt us. I think something else will.” Venom said.

Eddie opened his mouth to ask what that might be, when there was a shout, and Eddie turned to see a girl who was about sixteen rushing up to them, waving. She had short black hair, and icy blue eyes. She was wearing what Eddie supposed he would call a tiara, but it looked more rugged, with a silver half-moon circlet in the center. She clutched a bow tightly, several silver arrows strapped to her quiver. She wore all balck, and her eyes were lined with thick eyeliner.

She looked like the ultimate punk.

“Thalia?” Reyna asked, looking surprised. “What are you doing here?”

“Long story-who’s that?” She glanced over to Eddie, who waved.

“Eddie Brock. He’s here for...something.” Hazel said. “We don’t know what. It’s good to see you, Thalia, but why the sudden visit?”

“We’re missing Phoebe.” Thalia said, looking distressed. “We were hunting a few days ago, and she was acting weird after we killed a manticore-”

“A manticore?!” Hazel, Frank and Reyna said at the same time.

“What’s a manticore?” Eddie asked, confused.

Thalia gave him an odd look, and then refocused on the group. “Yeah, we’ve been hunting down a lot of old monsters lately. It’s...unsettling, to say the least.”

“I’m sorry, you what?!” Eddie gawked.

Thalia gave him a sideways look. “Yeah dude. We’re the Hunters of Artemis. You know. Immortal hunters of the goddess Artemis?”

“He’s mortal.” Frank said, sounding apologetic.

“He’s what?!”

Reyna made a ‘go on’ motion with her hand, and Thalia seemed to refocus on her missing friend. “She was acting weird, like she was sick, and then one day she just...wasn’t there. Wasn’t in her tent. No one had seen her leave. We were able to track her to here, and that’s where the trail went cold.”

“Why would she come here? Isn’t Phoebe Greek?” Hazel asked.

Thalia nodded. “Even though we were closer to Camp Jupiter...if she had to run, for whatever reason I expected her to take shelter at Camp Half-Blood.”

At this point, Eddie had just about given up asking questions, but now Venom popped out. “Perhaps I may be of assistance.” He said.

Instantly, a silver arrow was pointed at Venom. “What in Hades’ name is that?!” Thalia demanded.

“This,” Hazel said. “Is the reason he’s here.”

Thalia didn’t relax, the bowstring still pulled back tightly. Other people were staring, and Eddie felt nervous. “I’ve never seen a monster like this before.” Thalia said.

“He’s not a monster. He’s an alien.” Frank said.

“‘He’?!”

“You have a reason for speaking up there?” Eddie asked nervously.

“I have some skills that may be helpful in finding Phoebe. I am a powerful tracker.” Venom said.

Thalia scowled. “We’ve been working at it for a week. We’re the best trackers in North America. What do you have that we don’t?”

“A nose,” Venom said. “Humans can’t really track through smell, can they?”

“We have wolves.” Thalia said.

Eddie coughed. “Hey, the fact that he’s offering to help is pretty wild. You should be impressed. What’s the harm in letting him try?”

“I don’t trust him.” Thalia said.

“Thalia,” Reyna said quietly. “Lupa led us to him.”

Thalia’s eyes widened, and her arm relaxed, putting her arrow back into her quiver. She stared at Eddie and Venom for a long time before giving a deep sigh. “I guess...we could use all the help we can get. Phoebe’s an important part of the team.”

“Excellent,” Venom said. “But first, I’m starving, and I don’t think I’ll be allowed to eat this Phoebe when I find her. So, Frank, you mentioned scones?”

Notes:

can venom track? i think he can. whatever, canon is only a guideline

Chapter 6: Artemis

Notes:

hey...im back...how yall doing

guys venom 2 was fucking insane. go see it, its gay as shit I love it

“Do you like…” Hazel pursed her lips. “Need something of Phoebe’s? To track her I mean?”

“Something bloody would be preferable.” Venom said.

“Yeah, that’d be helpful.” Eddie translated, having already had a short talk with the symbiote about not appearing unless he was needed.

Thalia nodded stiffly. To her credit, she hadn’t ever shied away from Venom’s monstrous form, but Eddie got the feeling that she felt way out of her depth. “We have some of her clothes. Don’t follow me back to camp.”

“Tell her I can easily track her down.” Venom snarled in Eddie’s mind.

“He says thanks.” Eddie said.

“What?! No, I did not!”

“So…” Hazel glanced up at Eddie. “Gotta say, you’re handling this pretty well, all things considered.”

Eddie shrugged. “There’s a lot of crazy stuff out there today. Hell, I’m one of those crazy things. I still think you might be kinda crazy, though.”

Hazel smiled slightly. “You might not be entirely wrong.”

“Who’s Leo?” Eddie asked.

Hazel winced, and Frank looked at the ground. “He was...is, I guess, a really good friend of ours.”

“Did you have a falling out or something?” Eddie asked.

“He died.” Hazel said, her voice suddenly shaky.

Eddie gulped. “Oh.”

“You sound like an asshole.” Venom said helpfully.

“There was this...big fight, world-ending event,” Frank said with too much casualness. “And he sacrificed himself. We thought he had been dead for months. I...I guess not though.”

“I don’t know if I want to hug him or punch him in the face.” Hazel said, and laughed, though it cracked badly with built-up grief.

Eddie shuffled awkwardly. He had always been terrible at dealing with other people’s emotions. One time, when they had still been together, Anne had been devastated when a friend at work had stepped on her for a promotion. She had cried for hours, and it had taken all of Eddie’s strength not to burst out laughing from how uncomfortable he had felt.

Evidently, Venom felt similar. “Why are they still so upset if Leo’s alive?” He asked. “That hunter girl better get back quick. This sucks.”

“Shut up.” Eddie whispered.

Hazel looked up. “W-what?”

“Nothing,” Eddie coughed. “Are you sure you guys don’t want to go to New York now and see him?”

“It’s tempting,” Frank admitted. “But you don’t just ignore a goddess’ orders. That’s the kind of thing that gets you killed pretty fast.”

“Do all goddesses take the form of an obnoxiously large wolf?” Eddie asked.

“No,” Hazel coughed. “Some of them pretend to be old ladies who need help crossing a stream.”

“I really don’t think they need our help for whatever’s going on.” Venom said.

Thalia reappeared, looking just as stoic as before, a ripped blanket clutched in her hand. “This is all I could find,” She said. “Phoebe’s good. She knew how to make it hard for us.”

She shoved the blanket into Eddie’s hands roughly and stepped back, her hand noticeably resting on the hunting knife strapped to her side. “Call that thing out. Let’s get this over with.”

“No need to be rude.” Venom said, taking his full monstrous form. Thalia’s jaw tightened, but she didn’t step back.

Venom leered, flicking his tongue out and showing off endless teeth. “What? Nervous?”

“I’ve killed uglier things.” Thalia said stiffly.

“Let’s not antagonize the lady with the knife, okay?” Eddie said to Venom, still not liking the way Thalia looked ready to spring.

Venom tossed the blanket between his claws, and then huffed. “Try to keep up.”

*** *** ***

“So you can actually track?” Eddie asked Venom as the latter used his strength to propel himself through the pitch-black forest.

“Of course I can! Did you think I was lying?!” Venom paused in his sprint, offended.

“Give the others a minute to catch up.” Eddie said, realizing Venom had outrun the rest of the search party by quite a bit. Venom huffed, but didn’t forge ahead.

“So what do you make of all of this?” Eddie asked. “The gods and their kids and stuff?”

“I’m not familiar with human mythology, Eddie,” Venom said, soundly oddly tired. “I’m not sure what you mean.”

“I guess I mean do you think we’re making a mistake by helping them. There’s a lot of big-picture stuff. Probably a lot of context we’re missing.” Eddie explained.

Venom growled. “I don’t trust them.”

“Yeah?” Eddie said. “You and me both.”

“Something is going on. Something big. And these people have dragged us into it.” Venom said.

Eddie paused, and if had been in control, he would have probably wrung his hands. Venom didn’t get nervous. Venom charged in headfirst, called Eddie a pussy for not jumping off buildings, and ate street vendor hot dogs. Venom was only scared of high-pitched noises and sometimes fire.

“You think we should bail?” Eddie asked.

“I don’t know,” Venom admitted, and sniffed the air. “And anyway, we might not have a choice. The trail ends here.”

“What?” Eddie asked. Venom looked around for both their benefits, his eyes much more useful in the dark than Eddie’s. But there was no one around.

“Is...that a thing? For scents to just disappear like that?” Eddie asked.

“Usually not,” Venom said, and then shrugged. “Well, she’s probably dead.”

“Great bedside manner. Let me do the talking when Thalia gets here.” Eddie said, and Venom huffed before retreating, leaving Eddie shivering in the cold night. He looked around once more, but could see no sign of anyone around.

“Where are you?” He mumbled to himself.

*** *** ***

Phoebe gasped, scrabbling at her throat desperately, though she wasn’t choking in the slightest. “Out,” She rasped. “Get out. I want you out.”

The thing in her head laughed at her. Only it wasn’t in her head anymore, now it had laced itself through her body like a poison, anchoring to her bones and organs. She couldn’t quite tell what was her and what was the thing anymore. But it hurt, and she didn’t like it.

“Out.” She said again, and she hated how pleading her voice was.

No can do, Phoebe. We have plans. Big plans for you. You can’t just quit now. If I recall correctly, you seemed excited by the newfound strength I gave you.

“I didn’t know!” She cried. “I didn’t know, I didn’t know...please let me go home, I need...I need to go home, they need me.”

I doubt they’ve noticed your disappearance.

Phoebe lurched, stumbling forward and collapsing against a tree. Her stomach turned, and she leaned forward and vomited a steady stream of black ooze, along with a healthy amount of blood. “Wha…” She spat, her mouth bitter. “What are you doing to me?!”

Nothing for you to worry about.

“Where am I?” Phoebe asked, hobbling forward. There was a small creek, and she cupped her hands into the water, drinking to try and rid herself of the taste in her mouth.

She caught sight of her reflection in the water and screamed, her stomach turning again.

It wasn’t her reflection in the creek. There was a monster, unlike anything she had seen before, blood red and fleshy with blank white eyes and jutting teeth. A long, lizard-like tongue flicked out from between the monster’s fangs, dripping drool.

Phoebe kept screaming, and the voice in her head kept laughing.

I think it’s about time you left, now, They said, and still screaming, Phoebe’s world went black.

Her last thoughts were to beg for her goddess to rescue her.

*** *** ***

“What do you mean,” Thalia growled, her face looking ghoulish in the dim light of the flashlight. “That her scent disappeared.”

“Look, I’m relaying what Venom told me.” Eddie said, wondering if Venom could heal a slashed jugular before he bled out.

“Yeah?” Thalia said. “And you got there way before anyone else? With plenty of time to dispose of a body? How convenient.”

“Hey-” Eddie started, but Venom was apparently cranky from a lack of chocolate, sleep, and meat, because he appeared on Eddie’s shoulder, snarling.

“What are you implying?! That I ate her?! That I swallowed her whole?! I’m tempted to do that to you!” He lunged forward, snapping at Thalia, mostly for show, but she swung back with a long, bronze knife, furious.

“Hey!” Hazel stepped between them, her arms out. “Knock it off! This isn’t helping anyone! Venom didn’t-” She paused, turning to Eddie and Venom. “Um, you didn’t kill Phoebe, right?”

“No!” Eddie and Venom snapped at the same time.

“Right, see? So there’s no need to slice each other up.” Hazel said.

“I would be doing the slicing,” Venom said unhelpfully. “Your butter knife would do nothing to me.”

“Yeah?” Thalia grinned, looking downright bloodthirsty. Thunder rumbled in the distance, though Eddie was pretty sure there hadn’t been a cloud in sight earlier. “How about five hundred megavolts up your ass? That sound like nothing?”

“Thalia,” Frank said, though he stepped away from her. “Lupa led us to him. He must be important.”

“I don’t give two shits about what Lupa says.” Thalia growled.

“Then what about what I have to say?”

Eddie jumped at the new voice, practically falling in his attempt to whirl around to see who had spoken. A young girl, about twelve years old, leaned against a tree a few yards away. She had bright eyes, freckles, and auburn hair done up in intricate braids. She fiddled with a bow, a quiver of arrows strapped to her back, and looked at Venom with little shock or disgust.

Thalia made a surprised noise and immediately knelt. “My lady.”

The kid-why the hell was Thalia kneeling for a preteen-nodded, looking Eddie up and down. “So this is the man...or something, that they told me about.”

“Um,” Eddie said. “Right.”

Venom growled.

“Lady Artemis,” Hazel said, giving Venom a warning look, which was bold of her. “We...didn’t expect to see you. I mean, I guess we should have, one of your Hunters is missing…”

“I’m here beyond that,” Artemis said. “I cannot locate Phoebe. And this is...of great concern to me.”

Thalia’s head jerked up. “You can’t find her? I don’t understand…”

“Nor can I,” Artemis sighed, looking oddly despondent. “Which is why, to great reluctance, I do indeed think we need...the help of that thing.”

“Hey.” Eddie said, and Venom growled again.

“My lady…” Thalia started, but Artemis shook her head.

“There’s a woman hiding out, not all that far from here. She is skilled in battle, and if you are able to win her alliance, she may be of great assistance to you in the coming days.” Artemis said.

“Coming days?” Frank asked. “Um...what exactly do you mean by that?”

Artemis sighed. “I am unsure. But I know it will be bloody and filled with death. Monsters are stirring, and whispers fill the halls of Olympus. I would prefer minimum casualties, especially when it comes to the lives of my Hunters.”

“Hey, uh,” Eddie coughed. “What about my life?”

Artemis fixed him with a harsh glare. “I do not normally accept help from a man,” She sneered. “But in this case, I am forced to make an exception. For the lives of my Hunters.”

Eddie would have laughed at her distaste, because she really sounded like a girl who refused to play with boys because they had cooties. Unfortunately, she was already ignoring her once again.

“Thalia, you and my Hunters will continue to comb the woods. The Praetor will host you. I’ll make sure of it,” She turned to Hazel. “You will lead Zhang, the mortal, and his...thing to the woman. I will point you to her.”

“We should eat her.” Venom whispered to Eddie, and he swatted the symbiote scoldingly.

Hazel looked surprised. “I...Lady Artemis, I’m honored but...well, it’s a lot all at once.”

Artemis smiled grimly. “A lot is going on.”

“So, uh,” Frank coughed. “Who are we supposed to be looking for?”

“One of the most dangerous women in the world, and a mortal, no less.” Artemis said, looking proud.

“A young maiden named Yelena Belova.”

Notes:

i also saw black widow recently and I couldn't resist

Chapter 7: Yelena

Notes:

oh, tom hardy's venom, we're really in it now

“Did you have a nice magic facetime call?” Eddie asked, tossing pebbles into a ditch.

“Iris message is not magic facetime,” Frank said. “But it was fine, thank you. Everyone’s alive as of now, and the important thing is that we focus on our quest.”

“Our quest being finding the most dangerous woman in the world and asking her to come help us?” Eddie asked. “Have we come up with a game plan for that? Because I feel like saying please isn’t gonna cut it.”

“I could threaten to bite her arm off.” Venom offered.

“We’re not threatening amputation, for the last time.” Eddie said.

“Well,” Frank said, having long learned to disregard anything Eddie said unless it was explicitly directed at him. “Maybe Hazel can offer her gold like she did with you.”

“Why are we compromising? We could beat her up.” Venom said.

“She could probably beat us up, V. Most dangerous woman in the world, remember?” Eddie reminded.

Venom grumbled. “I can heal any injuries sustained in battle.”

“As much faith as I have in your healing abilities, I don’t think you can fix a bullet through the skull,” Eddie said. “And before you ask-no, we’re not going in there with you in control. She’d panic.”

“As she should!” Venom declared, but seemed mostly placated.

“All good up there?” Hazel asked.

Eddie nodded dully. “Just trying to think of a strategy. I dunno if money is gonna cut it. Don’t assassins get paid a lot?”

“Guys.” Frank said.

“I don’t have any better ideas. I don’t want to lie and manipulate her. That feels bad.” Hazel said.

“Guys.” Frank said again.

“Isn’t lies and manipulation, like, the whole deal with the Mist?” Eddie asked.

Hazel scowled. “That’s not-”

“Guys!” Frank snapped, grabbing Hazel’s arm. “Across the street. Try not to look suspicious.”

Eddie immediately turned around. “Venom? Do you see her?”

“Hm…” Venom hummed. “Blonde girl, dark eyes. Pretty muscular. She’s carrying a grocery bag. Lots of piercings. Sounds a lot like how she was described to us.”

Eddie let out a breath, hazarding a look to see what he certainly hoped was Yelena Belova, walking up the street. She looked inconspicuous enough, wearing a simple t-shirt and jeans, with a bright red flannel to protect from the breeze and scuffed tennis shoes. But Eddie supposed wearing spy gear would probably blow her cover.

She stepped into the lobby of the cheap motel across the street and disappeared, turning into the stairwell.

“Okay,” Eddie said. “I might have an inkling of a plan.”

*** *** ***

It was easy for Frank to get inside the motel, disguised as a fly, and then distract the front desk worker with a new illusion of a stray cat. Hazel and Eddie ducked into the stairwell easily, starting to make their way up the concrete steps.

“Artemis told us she’d be here, but not the room number,” She frowned, looking at Eddie. “I don’t suppose you have X-ray vision?”

“I don’t think so.” Eddie said.

“I smell cookies.” Venom said suddenly.

“That’s great,” Eddie said dismissively. “How are we-hey!”

Eddie’s legs moved on their own accord, marching up the stairs stiffly. “What the hell are you doing?!” Eddie hissed.

“I’m hungry.” Venom said simply.

“Eddie?” Hazel asked nervously.

“Just a second!” Eddie called down to her. “Venom, stop it! We don’t have time to go stealing cookies!”

“I’m starving!” Venom lamented.

“You just had scones in New Rome!”

“Just had?! That was over twelve hours ago! I’m hungry again! And it’s either cookies or the girl.”

“Is something wrong?” Hazel asked.

“Nothing. We’re just peachy.” Eddie said through gritted teeth.

“Things are NOT peachy!” Venom wailed, and Eddie’s steps got faster.

“Venom, for the love of God, just drop it, and I promise I’ll get you all the cookies you want later.” Eddie practically begged.

“These are fresh-baked,” Venom argued. “The kind that are pre-cut and everything. We love those.”

“Eddie!” Hazel said, whisper-yelling. “Tell Venom to stop!”

“What the hell do you think I’m trying to do?!” Eddie snapped.

Venom forced him to open the door from the stairwell into the third floor, piloting his body down the hall, ignoring Eddie’s whispered pleas for him to stop. “Almost there...aha!” Venom sounded giddy, stopping at room 304. Eddie’s hand shot out, and Venom’s tentacles appeared on the ends of his fingertips, going into the lock. They prodded the inside until Eddie heard the lock click open, and his hand returned to normal.

“What, are you just pulling abilities out of your ass now?!” Eddie demanded. “Since when can you pick locks?!”

Venom didn’t answer, gleefully opening the door and forcing Eddie to step inside. “Eddie! Venom! Come on!” Hazel hissed, following them at a slight distance.

Eddie’s body marched over to the tiny oven in the corner of the room’s kitchenette. There were indeed cookies inside, though the timer read that the cookies still had several more minutes remaining before they could be consumed.

“See? There’s no point,” Eddie snapped. “Now let’s go-”

He heard Hazel gasp softly behind him, and whirled around, though he wasn’t surprised by what he saw.

Yelena Belova had a gun to Hazel’s head, her arm wrapped around the younger girl’s chest to keep her from bolting. Hazel, for her part, looked far more angry than scared, glaring at Eddie fiercely.

“Oh, whoops.” Venom said.

“Sit.” Yelena commanded. She had a thick Russian accent, and jerked her head at a metal chair sitting by the oven. “Sit now.”

Eddie wished that Venom could hear his thoughts just this once, so he could scream at the symbiote without making Yelena believe he was unstable. He was probably unstable, but she didn’t need to know that. Especially if she was holding a gun.

“Okay, okay,” Eddie said, slowly sitting down, fully in control again. “No need to get violent.”

“You are the one who broke into my room.” She said.

“Sorry.” Hazel said.

“You, no talking,” She snapped at Hazel before fixing her gaze on Eddie again. “Who are you? No lies. If you lie, I will put a bullet in her head.”

“I’m nobody,” Eddie said, and stiffened when Yelena flicked off the safety. “No no, really! Look, I’m in over my head here, okay? I’m Eddie Brock, I’m just some guy from San Francisco.”

“Who sent you?” Yelena asked. “Ross? One of Dreykov’s cronies? Stark?”

“I told you, I-” Eddie paused. “Dreykov, Dreykov, that’s...I know who that is, I-”

“The Red Room!” Venom supplied helpfully. “You wanted to write something about it when they found pieces of it but your boss didn’t give you the story! I said we should have eaten him!”

“You were sent by Dreykov?” Yelena asked, and he saw her finger twitch on the trigger.

“No!” Eddie practically shouted. “No no, I never met him, I don’t have anything to do with him. I swear it. On my life.”

“Don’t swear on my life!” Venom protested.

“I’ve just heard of him,” Eddie said. “The story about the Red Room having survived after everyone thought it was gone for so long was everywhere. The government couldn’t have kept the news away if they tried.”

“Vultures.” Yelena snarled.

“Maybe a little,” Eddie relented. “But we’re not with him. We’re not sent by any of those guys.”

“Why are you here then?” Yelena asked. “What do you want?”

“Truthfully?” Eddie said, smiling wryly. “He wanted some cookies.”

Yelena blinked. “‘He’?”

Hazel saw her chance. She grabbed Yelena’s arm and pushed it up. A gunshot rang out, causing bits of the ceiling the rain down on them. Venom reached out with a tentacle, yanking Hazel away from Yelena. Eddie pushed her behind him, and Venom partially emerged from Eddie’s chest as Yelena recovered and shot at them, emptying her round in seconds. All he felt was a light impact, like a large bug flying into him.

Yelena blinked, thrown off balance. “I...what the hell?”

“I’m taking your cookies.” Venom said, fully emerging. He snarled at Yelena, drool dripping from his teeth.

Yelena recovered fast, to her credit. In one fluid motion, she drew a long knife and threw it at Venom, hitting him square in the chest. Venom jerked back, more startled by the impact than hurt, and Yelena threw herself out the window. Venom growled, ripping the knife out of his chest, and going to the window, just managing to catch sight of Yelena as she disappeared from sight around a corner.

Hazel muttered something to herself, fog curling around her feet. “The Mist will conceal you from mortals,” She said. “I’ll get Frank and we’ll try to follow from the air. Go after her!”

“Don’t let the cookies burn!” Venom ordered.

“Oh for the love of-” But neither Venom nor Eddie knew what Hazel would say next, because they were already out the window.

“Don’t think I’m forgetting about the stunt you pulled.” Eddie told Venom as they leaped over rooftops in pursuit of the assassin.

“In my defense,” Venom said. “What were the odds that it was her room making cookies?”

“You ruined any chances we had of starting off friendly!”

“She doesn’t seem like the friendly type, Eddie.”

“Well, now we’ll never know, will we?”

“There she is.” Venom paused, seeing Yelena pushed through crowds, occasionally looking over her shoulder. Her eyes widened when she spotted Venom, and she picked up speed.

“Guess Hazel didn’t bother hiding us from her.” Eddie said.

“I am going to eat her hands.” Venom decided.

“No!”

Venom jumped from rooftop to rooftop, never tiring of the chase. Yelena had nearly the same stamina, weaving through crowds expertly. “We just need to get the gun away from her,” Eddie said. “It can’t hurt us, but Frank and Hazel aren’t bullet proof.”

“That’s why we should eat her hands!” Venom said.

“Stop with the hands thing! What’s with you and hands recently?!”

“I’m expanding my horizons!”

Venom lunged, snarling in anticipation. Two more jumps and they would be on top of Yelena-

Something struck Venom’s shoulder, and he felt it. And it felt bad.

Venom shrieked in pain and surprise, scrabbling to stay on the roof. “What was that?!” Eddie asked, shrill. Venom clumsily reached for his shoulder, hissing in pain when he found a long arrow stuck in the center of his massive shoulder. He yanked the arrow out with a yowl, and waited for the wound to close.

It didn’t.

Black liquid oozed from the wound, and while it was closing, it was far more slowly than it usually was. And it stung, badly, throbbing with each heartbeat.

“That’s not…” Venom winced. “That’s not supposed to happen.”

“It’s not,” Eddie said, trying to hide the horror in his voice. “Do you-LOOK OUT!”

Eddie managed to take control long enough to make Venom jerk to the left so the next arrow just missed where he assumed the heart was. That didn’t make it hurt any less, however, and Venom screamed again, ripping the arrow out. The top was shiny, and the same bronze color that Thalia’s knife was.

“There.” Eddie breathed, catching sight of the archer.

A young woman stood on top of a building several yards away, nearly out of view. He could just make out bright red hair and an orange t-shirt. She looked muscular, and Eddie realized too late that she was pulling back another arrow-

A gunshot rang out behind Eddie, right next to his ear, and the girl preparing to kill them dropped. Eddie dropped to, though he was more startled than hurt.

He landed roughly in a dumpster, Venom having retreated. His shoulder and chest sang in pain, and his breathing felt ragged. “Ow.” He wheezed, fully human enough to feel the slowed healing.

He heard the click of a gun’s safety turning off, and looked up with a wince to see Yelena pressing the barrel of a gun to his forehead.

“That certainly looks like ‘ow’,” She agreed with very little sympathy. “Now tell me what you are before I change my mind about saving your life and put a bullet in your head right here.”

“I think I’m gonna pass out.” Venom said.

“I think I’m gonna pass out.” Eddie wheezed.

“Don’t pass out.” Yelena ordered.

Eddie passed out.

Notes:

im having a gay ol' time writing these, but I do wish that inspiration struck after my midterms

Chapter 8: Sparagmos

Notes:

"why are you updating this one twice in one day" because I like the gay reporter and his gay alien leave me alone I'm going through it rn

Eddie was certain he was dreaming, which was odd.

He was never a lucid dreamer. He had tried to teach himself to do it a few years back, but eventually gave up. He wasn’t a big dreamer anyway, and most of his dreams were disjointed and senseless. It was something he thought would have changed when he bonded with Venom, but oddly enough, his lack of dreams hadn’t changed. He had never thought to ask Venom if he dreamed. Or even slept.

He made a mental note to do so when he woke up.

He saw a young woman walking through a forest, walking uphill with a steady determination. Her face was blank, and she moved with methodical precision, like she had to focus on where each foot was going.

She was tall and strong, with bright red hair yanked back tightly into a bun, and she was wearing an orange t-shirt.

Eddie realized, belatedly, that this was the woman who tried to kill him.

She didn’t seem to notice him now, though, coming to a stop at the entrance of a massie cave. Eddie thought he heard something echoing inside, like metal hitting metal.

“My lord,” The girl said. “I’ve returned.”

The sounds within the cave stopped, and Eddie heard the shuffling of a great being inside. A light, dim and orange, flickered inside the cave, and then became brighter as the shuffling drew nearer.

A being emerged, and Eddie felt sick.

It was a truly massive man, grizzled and hardened. His hands were cracked and blackened, and he had unkempt gray hair that smoked slightly, and a beard worthy of a movie Vikings. He wiped his hands on a stained apron and grinned at the girl.

“Have you killed the demigods?” He asked.

The girl swallowed, standing back up. Eddie got the feeling she wasn’t a fan of kneeling. “No,” She admitted. “I encountered...complications.”

The man’s expression went stormy. “Complications.”

“It’s not my fault,” The girl said. “How was I supposed to know they enlisted the help of a mortal killer-”

“You lost to a mortal?” He thundered.

The girl did not back down. “You sent me to kill a mortal. Enhanced, sure, but a mortal no less. Aren’t you the god? Why don’t you do it yourself?”

“Insolent worm!” The man roared, and his hands lit up with a roiling blue flame. The girl’s eyes went wide, and she threw herself out of the way as the man swung at her, causing a tree to quite literally explode. Eddie would have cowered too, but he seemed to be fixed where he was, a witness and nothing else.

The girl stood up, pure hatred in her eyes, but she didn’t say anything else. The man took a breath. “I understand,” He said. “That you would rather be at the chariot of Zagreus.”

“Can you blame me?” She asked. “That’s what I was born for. Blood. Gore. Sparagmos.”

“You have no patience. Wait for your sparagmos, your carnage.” The man scolded.

“I am Carnage.” The girl said, and there was an animalistic snarl in her voice.

“Your host may disagree.” The man said, and chuckled when the girl’s face twisted into a frown.

“Phoebe is dead,” The girl said, and Eddie’s heart skipped a beat. “I swallowed her. She’s dead except for her body. It’s all me. Carnage.”

“All Carnage.” The man said. He paused, thinking. “Then why do you struggle against the man?”

“I don’t-” They sputtered, looking angry. “I don’t struggle. I haven’t even fought them.”

“Because you were stalled by mortal bullets.” The man said.

The other gritted their teeth, shaking from rage. “And you lived under a mountain and got chased out by a crippled god.” They said.

The man whirled around again, attacking with more fire. The other dodged again, but Eddie could see them smiling slightly.

“Who gave you a host, leech?!” He demanded. “Who showed you the secret war being waged?! You would have fizzled out and died like a maggot with no corpse to feast on! I did, we did, lifting you from death and giving you a host, offering you enough blood to glut the largest beasts, and you dare to speak to me like this?!”

He roared, and fire exploded out of him. The other ducked, trying to disguise their glee.

“Apologies, Adranus,” They said. “Consider me contrite.”

“You do not know the meaning of the word.” The man-Adranus-said. He huffed, appearing to calm himself down.

“Will killing Edward Brock ease your temper?” They asked, and Eddie felt his heart skip another beat.

“Bringing me your elder will suit me better.” Adranus said.

“He is not my elder,” They snapped. “He’s weak. Sentimental. He wants to protect his host, I can see it. It’s humiliating. He could swallow Brock like I’ve swallowed Phoebe, but he worries of becoming lonely. He’s hungry, weak, and stupid.”

“Then,” Adranus said. “You have no excuse for failing me a second time. Bring me Venom. Kill anything that stands in your way if you desire suffering so much.”

“No!” Eddie yelled, or at least tried to. It didn’t seem like he had a mouth in this dream.

Nevertheless, Adranus looked Eddie dead in the eyes and smiled. “It seems we have a guest, Carnage.”

The other turned around, locking eyes with Eddie. They smiled. “Looks like it.”

The smile turned sharp, and their body distorted into something red, fleshy, and horribly sharp. They screamed, high-pitched and evil, longing for death, and lunged straight at Eddie-

“OW!”

Eddie jerked awake, his cheek stinging. Hazel backed away, looking guilty. Eddie touched his cheek gently. “Did...did you just slap me?!”

“Sorry.” She said.

“Good, he’s alive,” Eddie’s head jerked back to see Yelena looking at him, unimpressed. “Now you can all go away. You’re delusional and he’s weird. I don’t know which is worse.”

“You passed out.” Frank said. He looked oddly worried. “We didn’t...really think that was going to happen.”

“Yeah, well, I didn’t think-wait,” Eddie scrambled to his feet, ignoring the protests of both the demigods and his joints. “Venom? Venom, are you there?!”

There was a beat of awful silence, and for a second Eddie wondered if his dream had an awful element of prophecy.

“I’m here,” Venom said, wonderfully grumpy. “You don’t have to be so loud.”

Eddie laughed, slightly hysterical. “You alright there?”

“Not particularly,” Venom said, strangely honest. “But don’t tell them that. I’ve suffered enough humiliation.”

“Venom’s fine,” Eddie said, willing to lie for Venom’s dignity, only because he was worried. “What happened?”

“I dragged your sorry ass out of the dumpster and waited for you to wake up,” Yelena said. “And then your friends came running. They are trying to convince me that they are the children of gods and that I am destined to help them. How are you able to do that?”

“Do what?” Eddie asked, cracking his back.

“The weird thing. The monster thing,” Yelena said. “It looks like the Hulk but if the Hulk was made of an oil spill.”

“The Hulk wishes he was me.” Eddie said, trying to shake out stiffness. The fact that Venom hadn’t taken care of the throbbing in his chest and shoulder had him really concerned. “That’s not technically me, anyway. I’ve got a parasite.”

He waited for Venom to emerge and protest the term, but he didn’t. Eddie never thought he would have missed the symbiote’s bitching, but here they were.

“Like a tapeworm?” Yelena asked, childishly curious. She couldn’t have been older than twenty five.

“Something like that,” Eddie said. “If a tapeworm makes you invulnerable, can take over your body, has a lot to say about how you live your life, and has a chocolate addiction.”

“Hm,” Yelena said, her hand straying to her gun. “You are really not here to kill me?”

“We really just want your help.” Frank said.

Yelena chuckled. “I am not in the business of traveling with delusional people.”

“You had something to do with the Red Room, didn’t you?” Eddie asked.

Yelena stiffened.

“You asked if we got sent by Dreykov,” Eddie said slowly, fitting the pieces together. “So clearly you know him, somehow. Are you with him or against him?”

“If you think,” Yelena started, her voice low. “That I would ever side with that demon pretending to be a man-”

“Against him then, got it.” Eddie said. Yelena frowned.

“So then, if you care so much about whether we’re with Dreykov or not, it seems fair to assume you’re afraid of him, or at least what he’s capable of,” Eddie said, forcing himself not to smile when he saw Yelena stiffen, starting to rise to the bait. “Can’t say I blame you, I don’t know that much about Dreykov, and even I would be looking over my shoulder for him-”

“I’m not afraid of Dreykov,” Yelena snapped. “I killed him.”

“So you brought down the Red Room.” Eddie said triumphantly.

Yelena made a sour face. “...not alone.”

“We’re not here to arrest you,” Hazel said gently. “If anything, congratulations.”

“So what are you doing now?” Frank asked.

Yelena shuffled, looking uncomfortable, as if she wanted to crawl out of her own skin. “I am…” She swallowed. “Not the only Widow in Dreykov’s web. There are dozens, maybe hundreds of his sleeper agents lying in wait all over the world. I am...I am telling them it’s over. That he’s dead. Freeing them.”

“Freeing them?” Eddie asked.

“There’s…” Yelena bit her lip. “There’s a chemical formula Dreykov’s scientists perfected. Complete subjugation. It forces the Widow to do his bidding. To kill anyone, even her best friend or herself if he sees fit. It’s like…” She swallowed. “It’s like watching a movie, unable to do anything. Except instead of characters on a screen dying, it’s you, and you can’t do anything to stop yourself as you kill them.”

Eddie was about to ask how she knew so much about it, but then thought better of it.

“We have an antidote. I’m tracking down the Widows to expose them to it, one by one, until they are all free. So we can move on. For good.” Yelena shifted between the balls of her feet.

“I am sorry that you are missing someone,” She said, sounding sincere enough. “But I have my own mission, and I cannot deviate from it.”

“What if we could help you?” Eddie said.

“Help me?” Yelena looked amused.

“The Hunters of Artemis-that’s who we’re helping out-are trackers. They can help you move faster, free more Widows. If you help us, they’ll help you.” Eddie said.

“You speak for the Hunters?” Yelena asked.

“Um, well, no,” Eddie admitted. “But I bet they’d agree to help. They seem like...a girls’ club…kinda like, uh...your thing.”

Yelena quirked her eyebrows. “You are comparing the Red Room to a girls’ club?”

“Definitely not,” Eddie said quickly. “Because that would be horribly insensitive.”

“You’re doing great.” Venom said.

“Yelena,” Hazel said softly. “We’re looking for a scared girl a lot like these Widows. She has a big family that’s worried to death about her. You don’t have to believe us about all the god stuff, but believe that we’re just trying to bring someone home.”

Yelena sighed, glancing at Eddie critically. “What if she does not want to be found?”

Frank blinked. “Why...why wouldn’t she want to be found?”

Eddie gulped, silently pleading with Yelena not to say what she had seen, how she had saved what Eddie thought was an invulnerable being through luck and good timing, and how he was sure that what had started as a rescue mission was quickly devolving into something much bigger and much more dangerous.

“Never mind,” She said after a long moment. “Will these so-called Hunters help me track down the remaining Widows? Can they be trusted?”

“Yes,” Hazel nodded. “They’ll honor you for your help, I promise.”

Yelena was quiet, evidently mulling over the pros and cons. “I hate to stray from a plan…” She said, half to herself. “Though I did free the Widow here…”

She sighed. “Fine. I will help you. But no funny business or I will kill you. No hesitation.”

“No hesitation. Gotcha.” Hazel looked relieved, though Frank looked slightly perturbed.

“But first, I need a favor from you.” Yelena said.

*** *** ***

“Grocery shopping.” Eddie said, looking at the list Yelena had handed him. Her handwriting was eerily good. “She wants us to help her grocery shop.”

Eddie waited a moment, and then frowned. “What, no quip?”

“Hm?” Venom asked, distracted.

“You alright?” Eddie asked, looking at the first item on her list. Goldfish, the rainbow kind specifically. “You seem kinda...distant.”

Venom was quiet.

“I didn’t think a few arrows would take you out like that.” Eddie said.

“Well, obviously, neither did I,” Venom snapped. “But we’re alive, aren’t we?”

“Hey, chill out,” Eddie said, surprised at his surliness. “I’m just worried about you.”

“Worried about me?!” Venom sputtered. “If anything, I’m worried about you! Look at your weak human body, ready to fall down in the strong breeze!”

“Sorry, who was the one who passed out?”

“Both of us!”

“You first, though.”

“Lies!”

“Speaking of passing out,” Eddie said suddenly. “Do you even sleep? Or like, have dreams?”

“That’s a weird follow up question.” Venom said.

“It’s just…” Eddie paused. “Okay, this is gonna sound a little crazy.”

“As opposed to everything else crazy we’ve been told?”

“Maybe. Look, when we passed out, I had this really weird dream. That girl who shot us, I think...I think that was Phoebe.”

There was silence. “...and why would you think that was Phoebe?” Venom asked carefully.

“Because the other guy said that she used to be Phoebe.” Eddie said darkly.

“The other guy?” Venom asked.

“You’re not worried about the fact that I said that the girl used to be Phoebe?! That’s creepy as hell!” Eddie hissed. He swept a box of rainbow goldfish into the shopping basket and glanced at the next item on the list. Instant coffee.

“Fine, go back to the Phoebe thing, then I want to hear about the other guy.” Venom sounded annoyed.

“Anyway, they said they killed Phoebe, and were using her body,” Eddie swallowed. “They...they called themselves Carnage, I think.”

He paused, but Venom didn’t say anything. “They, uh, kinda sounded like one of your guys.”

“Impossible,” Venom said, but he didn’t sound dismissive enough. “You can’t keep a bond with a dead body.”

“I know, I know,” Eddie said. “They said they swallowed her, something like that.”

“You can’t-no, that’s not right,” Venom sounded agitated. “You can’t do that. You can take the reins, you can force the host to listen, but you can’t just...you can’t just get rid of them like that. That’s not how it works.”

“I’m just telling you what they said.” Eddie mumbled under his breath, deciding against telling Venom the threats on his life. It would probably make matters worse. “Look, disregard what’s possible or not. Is there any way, any way in the world that there’s another symbiote running around out there? Because if there is, this one is pissed as hell, it’s taking Hunters, and stirring up some serious trouble. Think, V. Really think.”

“...there’s no way.” Venom declared.

“You hesitated.” Eddie said.

“Did not.”

“You did.”

“Did not!”

“The other guy called you Carnage’s elder,” Eddie snapped. “When they realized I was there, they got pissed, and turned into something that looked a hell of a lot like you.”

There was dead silence, and Eddie slammed the pot of instant coffee into the basket with way too much force. Next item. Rubbing alcohol.

“Venom?” Eddie asked, ignoring the strange looks from people as he passed through the aisles.

“...fuck,” Venom said, sounding defeated. “Goddammit, shit, motherfucker, oh hell-”

“What?!”

“There’s…” Venom sounded extremely reluctant. “A defense mechanism thing, it almost never happens.”

“Yeah?” Eddie prodded, nausea rising in his gut.

“Sometimes if we get in a really bad fight, and a bit of us is sort of…” Venom paused. “Torn off, it can regenerate. Form a sort of clone. It’s supposed to be one of those ‘living on through others’ sort of things except it’s super violent and all.”

“Right, right, right,” Eddie said, feeling faint. “Like a starfish.”

“I don’t know what that is,” Venom said. “But yes. Like a starfish. Usually the spawn is very similar, if not exactly like the original. But if, ah, some got mixed together-”

“Gross.”

“-shut up-it could possibly create another symbiote that has Riot’s genocidal tendencies and my inherent superiority.”

“Is this a joke to you?!” Eddie snapped. “Why didn’t you tell me about this?!”

“Obviously I didn’t know it was going to be an issue! Like I said, this never happens!”

“It happened now!” Eddie slammed the rubbing alcohol into the cart. Next item. Plastic cutlery. “Now we’ve got a crazed symbiote running around who, by the way, teamed up with some kind of fire god!”

Venom scoffed. “You have to be mistaken,” He said. “A symbiote would never go near anything with fire.”

“Well, this one did!” Eddie felt close to yelling, which was bad, considering he had already attracted half of the store’s attention at this point.

“It was a dream, Eddie, you can’t put that much stock into it-”

“My dream predicted what you decided wasn’t important enough to warn me about!” Eddie rubbed his eyes, exhausted and nauseous. “Now this thing is gonna do sparagmos, whatever the hell that means!”

“Sparagmos.” Eddie jumped at the new voice, whirling around to see Hazel, Frank, and Yelena staring at him.

“Sparagmos,” Yelena repeated. “It’s a Greek word. It means to mangle something. Tear it apart.”

“Ah.” Eddie said. He thought he might pass out again.

Hazel took a shaky breath. “Eddie,” She said softly. “I need you to tell me exactly what happened in your dream.”

Notes:

halfway through writing this chapter i realized how it would have been so much cooler if I had zagreus in this book instead of the other but its too late now huh

Also yeah my explanation for carnage is slightly different because it’s my fanfic and I think it’s cooler. I would say it’s more scientifically accurate but I have no idea I’m a communications major guys idfk

Chapter 9: Truth and Consequences

Notes:

personally i think they should have put the songs happy together by the turtles and never tear us apart by inxs in the movie and my opinion is correct

“That’s a hell of a dream.” Yelena said, leaning against the brick wall of the alley that the group had taken shelter in so Venom could speak freely. Eddie tried to ignore her, still slightly annoyed that she had made him pay for her groceries.

Frank and Hazel looked at each other, worried. “Well, that lines up with the prophecy.” Hazel said reluctantly.

“Prophecy? There’s a prophecy?” Eddie asked.

Hazel nodded. “One of our friends back East gave it-hang on, I wrote it down…”

She dug out a crumpled piece of paper, and Yelena raised her eyebrows. “You write down prophecies on lined notebook paper?”

Hazel ignored her, clearing her throat.

”The Gap awakens, and begins to expand,
And the old King of the Dead will rise again.
He stands with his army in the land with no snow,
Waiting for a half-blood that does not know.
The Spider will journey to the Underworld,
But may only leave darkness after his fall.

If madness and violence are given their chance,
They will eat and devour the Huntress’ camp.
But if the man with two faces can encase it in fire,
The wolves on the mountain may not yet expire.

Son of the Sea, swallowed by Chaos,
But never is war without a cost.”

Eddie looked at Hazel uncertainly, who nodded. “That’s...that’s it.”

“So, uh, what’s the accuracy rate of these prophecies?” Eddie asked.

“One hundred percent.” Frank said.

“Ah.” Eddie felt sick.

“The kind-of-good-news is that a chunk of the prophecy is playing itself out back East,” Hazel said. “So I’m pretty sure we only need to worry about the second chunk.”

“What about that Son of Sea bit?” Yelena asked.

Frank and Hazel looked at each other again, worry outlining their faces. “The...the Son of the Sea is back East.” She said in a whisper.

“If I may,” Venom said, appearing on Eddie’s shoulder. “Some of this might pose a problem. I’m gonna assume we’re supposed to be that two-faced bit, but we don’t really do fire.”

“Is that just a symbiote thing, or…?” Frank prompted.

Venom snarled. “It’s an ‘us’ thing. No fire.”

“You might not have a choice.” Hazel warned.

“I’m making a choice. Right now. The choice is no fire.” Venom said sternly.

“Okay, well-” Eddie waved at Venom to make him back up from the kids. “Maybe it’s...metaphorical fire?”

“Maybe.” Hazel said, but she didn’t sound convinced.

“Anyway,” Yelena said. “This Adranus guy sounds like a piece of work. You said he’s got fire hands? So you definitely don’t have a choice.”

“Adranus must be some kind of god,” Frank said. “Some fire god. Which lines up with what the others told us about old gods rising up because of Chaos.”

Eddie fumbled for his phone, going to the web app and typing in Adranus. He clicked on the first link that came up, skimming it. “Says here that Adranus was worshipped by people from Sicily. Lived in some place called Mount Etna, got chased out by some other god named Hephaestus and then promptly fell out of fashion, blah blah blah.”

“Ooh,” Venom said, reading over Eddie’s shoulder. “He had a thousand dogs. Delicious.”

Yelena looked horrified-why was that too far?!-and Hazel nodded. “That lines up. Vulcan-or Hephaestus, it doesn’t matter-is the current god of fire. And blacksmithing, building, crafting, that kind of thing.”

“So Joann’s with a side of pyromania?” Yelena asked.

Frank looked like he was trying not to laugh. “I guess.”

“‘Wolves of the mountain…’” Hazel said, mostly to herself. “You said Adranus was on a mountain.”

“I think…” Eddie paused, trying to think back to the scenery. “I think it might have been in Tamalpais State Park.”

Hazel and Frank looked stricken. Venom looked excited. “I keep telling you we should go there! People go missing all the time in the woods!”

“What’s at Tamalpais?” Yelena asked.

“A lot, actually,” Frank let out a long breath. “It’s the site of at least three mythological areas. And all of them are hostile.”

“Garden of Hesperides,” Hazel said, listing off on her fingers. “Atlas’ prison, and Mount Othrys.”

“Also,” Yelena said, digging around through the grocery bags. “There was a serial killer there in the 80s. That place has, uh, what do you call it?”

“Bad vibes?” Venom suggested.

Yelena nodded. “Yes, thank you.”

“How do you know about serial killers?” Eddie asked her incredulously.

“I know things.” She said defensively.

“And to make matters worse, that place is a hotbed for monster spawning, especially in recent years.” Hazel finished.

“I can take care of any monsters.” Venom said confidently.

“Two arrows nearly killed you.” Yelena said.

Venom snarled, and Eddie winced slightly. “I-I don’t know what that was.” He admitted.

“Celestial Bronze,” Frank said grimly. “If what you said is true, and another symbiote took over Phoebe, it probably has her weapons. Hunters’ arrows are tipped with Celestial Bronze. It’s a magical ore that can’t hurt mortals, but can harm just about everything else. And I guess Venom counts as everything else.”

“Oh,” Eddie said. “Great.”

It wasn’t great. Venom’s main advantage in fights was in invulnerability, making it easy for him to win fights, even if he was heavily outnumbered. But now…

“It shouldn’t hurt Eddie, though.” Frank said, trying to be helpful.

“Yeah, no problem,” Eddie said dully. “I’ll just hold my own against another symbiote.”

Venom snarled. “You’ll do no such thing.”

“It’s that or you get killed, V.” Eddie said miserably.

“Lose-lose situation.” Yelena observed.

“We can figure something out,” Hazel said, though she didn’t exactly sound hopeful. “In the meantime, we should get back to Thalia and Reyna. I think I know why Lupa wanted you now.”

“Do you need to send them another magic facetime?” Eddie asked.”Why don’t you just call them?”

“Monsters track phone signals.” Frank said.

Eddie sputtered, shoving his phone into his pocket. “You couldn’t have told me this sooner?!”

“You’re technically mortal, so you should be fine,” Frank said. “But, uh, maybe only use your phone for emergencies in the future.”

“We’re gonna find a place with a fountain or something so we can make a rainbow for the message,” Hazel said. “Be right back.”

Yelena looked like she wanted to say something else, but Hazel and Frank had already left, apparently eager to find some time to themselves. She huffed, sliding down against the wall and opening the box of goldfish.

“You know,” Eddie said, still sore about paying for her. “The rainbow ones don’t taste any different from normal ones. They’re just more expensive. And they’re not even that colorful.”

“Stick a sock in it, Brock.” She said, but her accent made it sound like one slurred word. She shoved a handful of goldfish into her mouth, defiant.

Eddie snickered before he could stop himself. “You don’t really seem like an assassin.”

“That’s because I’m not. Anymore, I mean.” She said, looking through the grocery bags. “Ah, shit, Frank bought the wrong brands of granola bars.”

She threw the box at Eddie, and one of Venom’s tentacles shot out of the air and snatched it. “You can have it if you want.” Yelena said, as though it was a great charity.

“I paid for it.” Eddie said, but opened the box anyway. It had chocolate chips in it. Venom would like it.

Yelena went quiet again, staring at the back of the goldfish box as if it held the secret to life. It was an odd setup, he supposed. Not all that long ago, he would have killed to be one-on-one with an ex-Red Room assassin, to ask her for every nitty gritty detail about her past life.

Now bringing up the past felt cruel and exploitative.

“What are you gonna do when it’s over?” Eddie asked.

“I told you,” Yelena didn’t look up at him. “Go back to freeing the Widows.”

“I meant after that. There’s a finite amount of Widows in the world. You’ll be done eventually.” Eddie took a bite of the granola bar and winced slightly at the sticky texture. He could see why Yelena wasn’t a big fan of them.

“If they don’t kill me before I’m done.” Yelena said.

Eddie blinked. “That’s-your plan is to get killed?”

“What-” Yelena blinked, seeming to realize what she had implied. “No, no, I just...it’s hard to think about the future.”

“What do you want to do?” Eddie asked.

Yelena frowned, suddenly looking distressed. “I don’t…” She frowned. “I don’t know.”

Eddie was quiet, and surprisingly, so was Venom.

“I want a dog,” Yelena said, in a burst of words that almost felt forced. “I’ve wanted a dog since I was a little girl. I never had one for obvious reasons but...but I like those big dogs, the ones with a lot of hair. You know, the ones that are big enough where you can hug them.”

She looked back down at the goldfish box, twisting the edge of her shirt. “I don’t...I’ve just spent so long living on fumes that I don’t think I can picture myself relaxing.”

“I’m sorry.” Eddie said.

Yelena shrugged callously. “It’s just the way it is. No use crying about things.”

“Crying is a waste of time and resources when one could be doing things.” Venom said, coming to rest on Eddie’s shoulder.

“Exactly.” Yelena nodded vigorously.

“But…” Venom paused. “I also think a dog suits you.”

Yelena stopped, looking genuinely surprised by the symbiote’s odd kindness. Eddie was too. Venom definitely wasn’t the expert on emotional outreach, but he had his moments. And his moments were always good.

“Is…” She wriggled. “Is that supposed to be cryptic advice or…?”

“Just an observation.” Venom said.

“Hm,” She said. “Well, thank you.”

She caught sight of something, and her eyes widened. She reached for her gun-

There was a massive explosion, and Eddie was thrown out of the alley.

Venom repaired the damage from the rough landing almost instantly, as if overcompensating for his failure the last time, but he couldn’t fix the disorientation they both felt. People were screaming, fleeing, panicking all around him, and the ringing in his ears wouldn’t go away.

Someone grabbed his arm and jerked him up, and Eddie nearly took a swing at them before he realized it was Yelena. She was shouting something that he couldn’t quite hear, a gash above her eyebrow.

“You got hurt.” He said stupidly.

No shit he was pretty sure she said.

“Eddie, what’s going on?!” Venom sounded panicked, and Eddie forced himself to take a breath.

“What happened?” He asked.

“Someone attacked us,” Yelena said, her eyes darting around for the source of the explosion. “No prizes for guessing who it is, but I didn’t see where they came from.”

“Yelena-!” Eddie yanked her away before an arrow-this time tipped with steel-could shish-kebab her, catching sight of Carnage settled on top of a building across the street. Yelena reacted immediately, shooting at the source of the attack with perfect precision, but Carnage had already ducked away. They still refused to use their symbiote form, and for some reason it infuriated Eddie.

Carnage was just parading a corpse.

“Get out of here, clear out everyone else, and go find Frank and Hazel.” Eddie told her, knowing full well that Carnage didn’t care about civilian casualties. He clenched his fists. “We can take care of them for now.”

“Didn’t they kick your ass last time?” Yelena asked.

“That was last time,” Venom said, already taking over. “We’re prepared now.”

Yelena opened her mouth to argue some more, but Venom was already gone, scrambling to the top of the building to meet Carnage.

Carnage was already ready for them, firing a Celestial Bronze arrow that just barely missed. Venom snarled, gnashing his teeth in preparation for a brawl. “Show yourself!” He growled.

Carnage smiled. “I don’t even have to use my true form to beat you.”

They fired another arrow, and Eddie took over on instinct, taking control just as the arrow hit them-and went straight through him harmlessly, burying itself in the wall.

“Holy shit,” Eddie breathed. “I-I didn’t think that was gonna work.”

Carnage scowled. “I have enough arrows for the both of you. Switch between your forms all you want-I’ll hit you eventually.”

“You can’t possibly think you’ll win this.” Eddie said quickly.

“I very nearly killed you the first time,” Carnage said, pulling an arrow back to their cheek. “And here I am now. Adranus was more generous in helping out now, anyway. We have a means of transportation.” They nodded towards a tall glass cylinder in the corner that had previously escaped Eddie’s notice, lined with Greek symbols that he only recognized in passing.

Eddie could hazard a guess at what it was for.

“Eddie, let me out,” Venom snarled, and Eddie just barely kept control. “I can take them.”

“No, you definitely can’t.” Eddie hissed.

Carnage grinned widely. “Is he listening? Oh, good. I’d want him to hear this. Hello, Venom. I’m your downfall and your host’s killer.”

Venom roared, so loud in Eddie’s mind that he physically winced.

“I want him to know,” Carnage said, their voice getting dark. “What he sentenced me for. How long I spent barely sentient and crazed with hunger, hopping between rodents just to stay barely alive, completely unaware of anything except my own suffering.”

“Tell them I don’t give a shit and I’m going to tear them into little pieces and throw them off the Golden Gate Bridge.” Venom said.

“And then Adranus found me, and offered me a deal, a purpose. But even better,” Carnage’s eyes were shining. “He offered me the world, all the blood I could ever want. All I had to do was bring him Venom, and he would help me raze the world.”

“With fire,” Eddie said. “You can’t possibly think that’s gonna turn out well for you, do you?”

“I am not weak like you,” Carnage said. “I can take the heat.”

“What could he possibly want Venom for? Does he think Venom would help him?” Eddie grinned. “Newsflash, not gonna happen.”

“Never!” Venom confirmed. “Now let me kill them!”

“Oh, no,” Carnage said. “He’s not interested in employment. He’s interested in a labor force.”

Eddie blinked.

“Did you think,” Carnage said, stepping forward. “That the Life Foundation was only interested in medicine? That there was nothing else in our kind’s nature that fascinated them?”

Venom snarled, low and angry at the mention of the Life Foundation, but Carnage’s smile grew.

“They wondered if a symbiote’s bonding could be isolated,” Carnage said. “Remove the messy parts of each subject’s personalities and motivations, and you're left with a husk. A perfect soldier, controlled by one hivemind to do your bidding.”

“And what, you’d be that hivemind?” Eddie asked, trying to ignore how nauseous the idea made him. “How would you even know how to do that?”

“Your investigation into the Life Foundation helpfully released all that research.” Carnage grinned.

“What?” Venom’s voice sounded high-pitched and vaguely panicked. “What are they talking about?!”

“Awfully quiet,” Carnage mused. “Did he not know? When your lovely host turned over his findings, it forced the Life Foundation to release everything to the government. It was meant to be secret, but...I’m sure Eddie knows how easily leaks happen.”

“What-no, no no no, Venom, I didn’t leak anything about the experiments,” Eddie said desperately. “Come on, you know I wouldn’t.”

“They were unsuccessful in their trials,” Carnage said. “But they didn’t have Celestial Bronze to carve up their subjects.”

“You didn’t tell me that everyone would know what they did!” Venom roared.

“I didn’t know it would get leaked!” Eddie protested.

“But you knew that someone would get their hands on it!”

“All this,” Carnage said. “All that pain, all that effort, and for what? Sentimentality?”

They grinned, sadistic and wide. “You shouldn’t have been the one to survive, Venom. You know that.”

Venom howled, filled with pain and rage, and took over before Eddie could stop him, lunging forward to rip Carnage apart.

Carnage let go of their arrow.

Pain exploded in their shared stomach, as though the arrow had set every single individual nerve on fire. Venom screamed, nearly crumpling but managing to catch himself. “Venom!” Eddie shouted, but Venom didn’t bother responding.

Carnage had let loose another arrow before Venom could collect himself, and then another, and another, and another. Everything hurt, everything was oozing slowly, refusing to heal.

Venom forced himself to his feet, and wailed once more when Carnage buried a knife in his shoulder, forcing him to his knees. They still held their same pleased, horribly satisfied smile. “You know the rules,” They said. “I can peel you off Brock’s corpse, it doesn’t make a difference to me. Or…” They drawled, pushing the knife in deeper and ignoring Venom’s pain. “You can let him go now, get in the jar, and I’ll let him live.”

“Don’t even think about it.” Eddie said instantly.

Venom snarled, but it sounded defeated. “Why...why should I trust you to keep your word?”

“I hate you a lot more than I hate him,” Carnage said simply. “Killing him just delays your own wonderful death.”

“Venom, don’t. Stop. We can think of a plan, just hang on-” Eddie cut himself off when Carnage pushed the knife in even deeper, sending a fresh wave of agony through them.

Venom tried unsuccessfully to bite back a noise of pain. “Swear it,” He gasped. “Swear you won’t hurt him.”

“Venom-!”

Carnage’s grin grew unnaturally large across Phoebe’s face. “I swear it.”

“V, don’t you fucking dare!” Eddie shouted, feeling hysterical. “I swear to fucking God-!”

“I’m sorry.” Venom said weakly, and melted away, the arrows falling off when he detached from Eddie and splattered unceremoniously onto the ground. Eddie tried to stand, but Carnage pushed him over, and apparently the Celestial Bronze did a number on him, because while he didn’t feel like he was dying anymore, he was shaking too badly to stand.

“Jar.” Carnage ordered, and Venom slithered obediently into the jar, ignoring Eddie’s distraught shouts. The jar closed itself with a hiss, sealing Venom inside.

Carnage laughed. “See? I didn’t even need to use my real form to kill you. And Venom, for future reference,” They drew a long knife from their belt, plain metal. “If you want a promise to persist, make ‘em swear on the River Styx.”

Venom instantly began throwing himself against the jar, but he couldn’t even make it rattle. Eddie tried to scramble away, but Carnage grabbed him and yanked him up by the back of his shirt. “Oh, I’ll enjoy this.”

They raised their knife-and cried out in surprise when an arrow buried itself in their shoulder.

Eddie craned his neck, just barely seeing Yelena, Frank, and Hazel from the street. Carnage stumbled away from the ledge, ripping the arrow out of their shoulder with a cry of pain. They snarled, and for a second Eddie thought he could see a hint of their true form. Toothy, red, and sadistic.

But then they huffed, glaring at Eddie. “This isn’t the end.” They growled, and sprinted.

“No! No, stop! Venom!” Eddie shouted, forcing himself to his feet. But it was too late. Carnage had grabbed the jar-grabbed Venom-and jumped over the side of the building. An eagle landed next to Eddie and then promptly turned into Frank.

“What happened?!” He demanded breathlessly. “Is everyone okay?”

“They got him.” Eddie said, swaying.

“What?” Frank looked startled. “Got who?”

Eddie fell to his knees, unable to force himself to stand. He swallowed hard.

“They got Venom.”

Notes:

what can i say im here for the drama

Chapter 10: Team V

Notes:

it has been a HOT MINUTE since I read the percy jackson books and I've been living on the pjo wiki now I don't remember shit

“It’s a lot quieter when you aren’t randomly talking to yourself.” Yelena said, ever the sympathetic person.

Eddie didn’t even bother with a response, merely putting his face in his hands and trying not to spiral.

He heard her mutter something. “Shit, sorry, I didn’t mean...that was an asshole thing to say.”

“A little.” Eddie managed to say.

“Thalia! Reyna!” Hazel leapt to her feet, waving to get the other two’s attention. They had managed to get in contact with them after the disastrous fight (they had Venom, who knew what they were doing to him right now) and convinced the Praetor and Hunter to meet them a few blocks away, where there weren’t any police cars covering the scene.

Reyna looked odd without her grand Roman uniform, dressed simply in the same purple t-shirt that Hazel and Frank were. Thalia looked exactly the same-punk and ready to punch Eddie in the face if he looked at her funny.

“You must be the mortal Artemis told us about.” Thalia said, glancing at Yelena.

Yelena shrugged. “Guess I am.”

“What happened?” Reyna asked.

Frank and Hazel gave her the rundown as quickly as they could, explaining how they had found Yelena, Eddie’s dream, and then-with a quick worried glance at Eddie-how Venom was captured.

Thalia’s scowl grew deeper and more worried as opposed to irritated. “So this…” She swallowed hard. “This thing has Phoebe?”

Hazel pursed her lips. “I’m so sorry, Thalia.”

Thalia drew in a deep breath, and Eddie could see how tightly her fists were clenched. She was muttering something to herself, too quiet to hear, but Eddie was pretty sure she was counting it ten.

“Right,” She said, her voice only a little forced. “I...this isn’t what we wanted, but we know what we’re up against now. We can make a plan. We can honor Phoebe’s memory.”

Yelena frowned, but didn’t say anything. Thalia glanced at Reyna and Frank. “I hate to do this to you, but I don’t know if the Hunters can take them alone. I need to know if your cohorts will fight beside us.”

“What?” Eddie glanced up at her, ignoring the look Thalia gave him. “What, you’re just gonna march in and fight them?”

“If what you said is true,” Thalia said. “We only have a short amount of time before Adranus and that thing attack. If we hit them first, it forces them on the defensive. If we destroy everything-”

“Hang on,” Eddie said, his voice rising. “They have Venom. You can’t just roll in and nuke the place. He’s there too.”

Thalia huffed. “That’s honestly the least of my concerns right now.”

“If we’re going to fight with you,” Reyna said slowly. “I’d need to consult with Frank, along with the Senators and Centurions.”

“And I’ll say no,” Frank said, and Eddie felt a wave of gratitude for the boy. “Thalia, I know you’re upset, but charging in-”

“Then promote yourself to Pontifex Maximus.” Thalia told Reyna.

Immediately, the group went silent.

Eddie coughed. “Um, my Latin’s a little rusty-”

“It’s the highest position in Camp Jupiter,” Reyna said softly, looking shocked. “It’s...Thalia, that’s only meant to be used for emergencies-”

“This is an emergency,” Thalia insisted. “Didn’t you hear him?! They’re attacking, and who knows when they’ll strike!”

“You’ll kill Venom!” Eddie protested.

“Good!” Thalia snarled, looking nearly murderous. “No more of those monsters running around!”

“He’s not a monster!” Eddie almost shouted.

“It’s hurt by Celestial Bronze,” Thalia said. “That’s a monster if I’ve ever seen one.”

“Thalia, you know what happened last time someone invoked the right of Pontifex Maximus.” Hazel said softly.

“Reyna’s not Octavian,” Thalia argued, and Eddie wondered what it was like to have context behind that. “She’s not gonna try to, like, blow up Camp Half-Blood.”

“No,” Reyna said, looking unsure. “Just the side of a mountain.”

“You can’t kill him,” Eddie hated how close he sounded to begging, but here he was. “There has to be another way.”

“Reyna?” Thalia looked at her, eager.

Reyna was quiet for several seconds. “...I won’t name myself Pontifex Maximus,” She decided, and Eddie felt relieved for a moment before she continued. “But I’ll call for a vote among the Roman Senate for a temporary shift of power.”

“Reyna!” Frank looked shocked.

“I have to think of the big picture here, Frank,” Reyna said. “I truly am sorry.”

“You don’t really think you can take on Adranus and Carnage at the same time?” Eddie asked waspishly.

“I think I’m gonna make that space leech regret even looking at my Hunters.” Thalia said, and Eddie thought he heard distant thunder.

“I’ll call for a meeting immediately,” Reyna said. “Frank, Hazel…?”

Frank and Hazel looked at each other, seeming to have a silent conversation. “We’re...we’re gonna help Eddie and Yelena get back home safe.”

“What?!” Eddie yelped, betrayed.

Reyna nodded stiffly. “Your votes?”

“I vote no.” Frank said, and Hazel nodded.

“I figured as much,” Reyna said. “Try to be back at Camp Jupiter tonight.”

Eddie glared at Thalia. “You’re making a mistake.”

“And you’re just a mortal who can’t mind his own damn business.” She snapped.

“Thalia, Lupa led us to him.” Hazel reminded.

“Lupa’s not my goddess!” Thalia fully shouted now, attracting the sideways looks from pedestrians. “She’s not even my pantheon! My loyalty is to my goddess and my Hunters, and right now one of them has been taken! It’s our job to serve justice!”

“I’m sorry,” Reyna said. “I truly am. I wish it didn’t have to come to this.”

“You don’t seem all that torn up about it.” Eddie grumbled.

Reyna ignored them, nodding at Thalia. They left the four alone on the curb, and Thalia had a bit more energy in her step now. It made Eddie want to puke. But then, he had wanted to puke since Venom was taken.

“Thanks for the help.” He snapped at Yelena.

Yelena looked shocked. “What was I going to do? I don’t know them!”

“You could have backed me up a little, not just sat there sulking.” Eddie knew he was being unfair, but he didn’t care. He turned on Frank and Hazel. “And you two-”

“Not now,” Frank said. “We need to think of a plan, and fast.”

“You just left me out to dry-what?” Eddie blinked.

“To save Venom, and stop Adranus and Carnage.” Hazel said, like it was obvious. She looked at Eddie critically. “Did you...did you just think we were gonna dump you on the streets?”

“I didn’t, uh, I mean…” He stared at them. “Why?”

“Lupa told us we need you. Both of you. But furthermore,” Hazel rolled her eyes like it was obvious. “We care about you. And Venom. Even if you ruined a quest because he wanted cookies.”

“Oh.” Eddie said. His fury evaporated away, replaced by deep gratitude. “I...thank you.”

“I don’t suppose there’s another spot on the team?” Yelena asked.

“You don’t have to-” Frank started, but Yelena shrugged.

“Nah, I know. I want to, though. Saving the world from an evil god and alien? Sounds cool. Avenger-y, even.” She grinned, and it dawned on Eddie that this was the first time he had seen her smile.

“I…” Eddie swallowed. “Damn, I don’t even-”

“Oh, hey,” Frank snapped his fingers. “I just realized that if you count Venom, there’s five of us. The Roman numeral for five is V, right? So that would make us, like, if we wanted a cool Avengers name-”

“Are you suggesting we call ourselves Team V?” Hazel asked, halfway incredulous and halfway amused.

Frank turned beat red and Yelena scoffed out a ‘ha!’. “Or not.”

Venom would have liked it. He would have insisted upon the name until it stuck, and then have lauded it like a trophy.

You’ll be a part of Team V. I promise. We’re coming for you.

*** *** ***
“I don’t think Phoebe’s gone.” Yelena said suddenly as they stood at the entrance of Mount Tamalpais park.

Eddie glanced at her. “What?”

She pursed her lips. “I’m...not a scientist. But what Carnage is describing sounds a little like what...what the Red Room used to control Widows.”

She forced herself to keep speaking, as if pushing the words out. “My m-someone told me when they were working on the formula for it, there was a point where they sort of took too much.”

She stared ahead at the mountain. “If they tried to wipe the Widow’s mind completely, to make a...a puppet, she just died. The human brain can’t be moving and empty at the same time, even when there’s another party controlling it. And you said that the symbiotes cannot pilot a corpse.”

Hazel looked hopeful. “So you think that Phoebe might be alive?”

“More or less,” Yelena shrugged. “It’s a little optimistic, but…”

“It’s worth keeping in mind,” Eddie said, and let out a breath. “You guys really don’t have to help me get Venom.”

“Are you trying to get rid of us?” Frank grinned.

“I’m just saying things could get hairy-” Eddie started, but Hazel shook her head.

“Honestly? This is pretty on par with what we usually have to deal with.” She said.

“That…” Eddie frowned. “Somehow makes me feel worse.”

“You worry too much,” Yelena jogged in place. “This will be fun!”

“How are we even going to find them anyway?” Eddie asked. “The mountain’s huge. There’s no way we can scan the whole thing.”

Hazel laughed, and then paused. “Wait, sorry...I forgot. The Mist.”

She waved her hand, and Eddie blinked when the sun shined into his eyes for a moment. When he could see again, his mouth opened in shock before he could stop it.

There was a steady plume of smoke rising from the forest in the mountain, somewhere smack in the middle of the trees. If Eddie strained his ears, he thought he could almost hear hammering. Like metal on metal. A forge.

Eddie swallowed. “Ah.”

“Okay,” Frank said. “We need to lure Carnage out to their true form. My arrows and Hazel’s sword have the same properties as Celestial Bronze, they can’t hurt Phoebe’s body, but they can hurt their real form.”

“I can cast an illusion,” Hazel said. “Make it look like we’re there and force Carnage to attack, then-”

“How solid are your illusions?” Eddie asked. “‘Cause the symbiotes have crazy senses. They can see, hear, and smell infinitely better than a person. If they see through it, there’s no telling what they’ll do.”

“That’s a lot of illusions to keep up,” Yelena said. “You would have to produce our images, hide us, all while Carnage and Adranus will surely be attacking.”

Hazel frowned. “I could do it.” She protested.

“We need something real,” Eddie said. “Something that Carnage couldn’t resist coming out for.”

Frank scowled. “No.”

Eddie blinked. “I didn’t even-”

“I know that look. Leo had the same one,” Frank drew in a sharp breath. “You’re not gonna sacrifice yourself.”

“It’s not a sacrifice,” Eddie protested. “A distraction.”

“Eddie,” Yelena said. “No offense, but you’re just some guy.”

“Hey.” Eddie said, hurt.

“I said no offense,” Yelena shrugged. “But without Venom, you’re the weakest out of all of us. One of us could distract Carnage and the others-”

Eddie shook his head. “Carnage has beef with me and Venom. Not any of you. If they see you, they won’t waste time toying with you. They’ll just kill you.”

“They’ll kill you, too.” Hazel said.

“But not right away,” Eddie said. “They’d...they’d want to draw it out, maybe make Venom watch.”

“Do you hear yourself?” Yelena asked.

“Yeah, yeah, I know.” Eddie ran his hand down his face. He could feel a migraine coming on. “But we’re running low on options. Adranus and Carnage are doing God knows what, and Thalia and Reyna are gearing up to attack. Or at least Thalia is.”

“There has to be another plan.” Frank insisted.

“There probably is,” Eddie admitted. “But we don’t have time to come up with one.”

Frank and Hazel looked at each other, and Yelena looked at Eddie like he had grown a second head.

“Guys,” Eddie said, soft and pleading. “Please. I need your help. To save the world. To save Venom.”

Yelena kicked a pebble on the ground. “You know,” She said slowly. “I’ve heard worse plans.”

“I didn’t even tell you the real plan yet.” Eddie said.

“Yeah, I know. I just got a feeling this one’s going to be shitty.” Yelena grinned, cheeky.

The demigods looked at the mountain, Eddie, Yelena, and then each other again.

“...we better get a move on if we want to reach them,” Frank said. “We should start walking.”

“Tell us the plan, Eddie.” Hazel said.

Notes:

oh my god the end is in sight

Chapter 11: Cannon Fodder

Notes:

SORRY I GOT BUSY AND ALSO
i got fucking punched in the gut by a cold, though I don't think its covid cause I'm vaccinated and I wear my mask fucking everywhere but mostly I feel like shit
anyway enjoy

When Eddie was young, he heard about a witch on top of Mount Tamalpais.

Apparently, it was a common legend, but by the time he heard it, he was old enough to know better.

Now, wandering through the forest long after the sun had set and following the sounds of what he assumed were a forged-metal on metal contact was hard to escape-he almost wished that a witch was waiting for him. It felt more familiar than a god and another symbiote, this one slightly more evil than Riot.

“Carnage!” Eddie shouted, trying to keep the nerves out of his voice. He knew it didn’t matter if he was visibly scared or not, but all the same, he tried to put on a brave act.

There was silence.

“I know you’re here!” Eddie shouted. “What, are you scared of me or something?”

“Oh, please,” Eddie whirled around, seeing Phoebe’s body leaning against a tree. “You sound ridiculous.”

“Let Venom go.” Eddie ordered.

“Well, since you asked so nicely,” Carnage rolled their eyes. “You really marched to your death, didn’t you? Where are your little friends?”

“They’re not my friends,” Eddie said. “Let Venom go. Tell your master you don't need him for your plan.”

“You seem confident,” Carnage grinned, their teeth looking oddly sharp, even in human form. “And who would my master be? You really think I answer to anyone?”

“Adranus,” Eddie tried to sound abrasive. “He’s keeping you as a pet.”

Carnage snarled. “I’m no pet.”

“Then why is he sending you on errands? Why are you afraid of him? Is it because you know he could easily kill you?” Eddie mocked.

Carnage stood up straight. “You are either very stupid, have a death wish, or both,” They hissed. “I’m not Adranus’ pet. He wishes he could kill me. Once San Francisco falls, I get to have my fill of the survivors. And the suffering will only spread from there.”

“Then why didn’t you just kill Venom in the city?” Eddie asked. “Was it Adranus’ orders? Or...oh, jeez, this is embarrassing. Were you scared to take us on?”

Carnage laughed, cruel and joyful. “I didn’t even need to be in my true form to separate you two,” They grinned. “Have you considered that I’m going to kill you both because I just don’t like you?”

“I considered it,” Eddie said. “I don’t believe you. I think you’re scared because other than Adranus, we’re the only thing that can stop you.”

Carnage hissed. “You have a lot to say for a lonely mortal.”

“Show me Venom.” Eddie ordered.

“You forgot the magic word.”

Eddie glared, refusing to give them the satisfaction. Carnage shrugged. “Fine then. Be an asshole.”

They looked up slowly, smiling, and Eddie followed their gaze.

Illuminated by only half the moon, Venom rolled in the glass case, trapped and suspended above the ground by ropes tied between the trees. He seemed to know Eddie was there, because his attempts to break free only redoubled once Eddie’s eyes widened in shock.

“Oh God.” Eddie said under his breath.

“It really was too easy,” Carnage said, stepping forward to stand directly under the case. “But I’m actually quite glad that you’re here, Eddie.”

Their face split into a toothy grin, and Eddie heard Venom’s muffled squeal of warning. “Because I get to do this.”

Carnage sprang forward, punching Eddie in the gut as hard as they could. Their fist was still human, but it had only some of the strength of the symbiote. Eddie only knew they were holding back as he would have died instantly had Carnage put their entire strength into the punch. They were toying with him.

Eddie gasped, doubling over instantly, trying uselessly to draw in a breath. Venom screamed again, his escape attempts becoming more violent and desperate.

“Pathetic,” Carnage sneered, circling Eddie. “Truly pathetic.”

Tears sprang to Eddie’s eyes on their own accord, but he forced himself to smile at Carnage. “I-is that all you got?” He wheezed. “I-I’ve had paper cuts that hurt worse than that.”

Carnage’s smile hardened. “You are suicidal.” They said, and grabbed Eddie by the back of his jacket, swinging him into a tree.

Eddie cried out hoarsely, pain lacing up and down his back. Dimly, he heard Venom’s nonstop screeches, but he forced himself to focus on the task at hand.

Come on, Brock, don’t pussy out now.

“I-I mean,” Eddie spat out a mouthful of blood. “Having host troubles o-or something? Is Phoebe f-fighting you?”

“Phoebe is gone!” Carnage howled.

“That’s the o-only explanation I can think of as to w-why you’re pulling your punches.” Eddie laughed, and then winced at the action.

Carnage yanked him to his knees by his hair, growling. “I am holding back,” They said, ignoring Eddie’s squirms to move away. “Because I want to see you suffer. Because I want Venom to see you suffer.”

Eddie craned his neck up and spat a mouthful of blood in Carnage’s face. They reeled back, surprised by his impertinence. “You’ll have to try harder than that then.” Eddie rasped.

Carnage’s human frame shook with fury. “You ugly, sad little freak!” They shrieked, and leaped forward, kicking Eddie in the stomach. Eddie yelped, trying to curl in on himself, but Carnage kept kicking.

“You’re weak!” A kick. “Vulnerable!” A kick. “Useless!” A kick. “I am going to kill everyone and everything you’ve ever loved, slowly and surely, bit by bit, until there is nothing on this planet but pain and grief! You’re nothing!!”

They kept kicking, and Eddie suddenly became aware that his plan would fail if Carnage just beat him to death right here with Venom watching. He curled up as much as he could, covering his head and trying unsuccessfully to keep himself from crying out in pain as Carnage beat him.

They stopped, finally, though for a second Eddie didn’t even realize, too focused on the fire burning between shattered ribs and ruined organs. He gurgled on blood, and wondered if Carnage had punctured a lung.

“S-so…” He gagged. “Adr’nus...won’ let you k’ll me. Tight leash.”

Carnage’s head slowly turned back to him. “What did you say?” They asked, voice low.

“Hidin’...” Eddie forced himself to say, though he really wanted to beg Carnage to stop. “...hidin’ behind Phoebe. Scared. T-tight…” He gurgled again. “...leash.”

He heard Venom wail again, the only sound in the forest at that moment.

Carnage was silent, their expression unreadable. “You just don’t know when to shut up, do you?”

Eddie choked in response.

Carnage turned, their eyes suddenly going white. Phoebe’s body contorted, and was enveloped by a viscous red ooze, the same consistency as mangled flesh. They grew, rippling with red musculature and tentacles tipped with sharp edges. Jagged, mismatched teeth that were somehow more uneven than Venom’s jutted out of their mouth, and Carnage snarled, their thick tongue flicking out.

The symbiote stood before Eddie, and despite the fact that symbiote faces left little in the way of emotions, Eddie was certain he saw a gleam of pure sadistic glee in Carnage’s eyes.

“Adranus,” They said, voice rasping and menacing, like Death itself was speaking. “Does not control me. I am violence. I am fear. I am Carnage.”

They stepped forward, grinning. One of their tentacles wrapped around Eddie’s leg, lifting him off the ground. He cried out in pain.

“But mostly,” They snarled, clearly enjoying Venom’s desperate cries. “I am hungry.”

They opened their mouth, lowering Eddie down-

Eddie managed to smile. “Gotcha.”

Carnage blinked. “What-”

An arrow pierced right between Carnage’s chest.

dropped Eddie instantly, screaming so loud it made his ears ring. Or maybe that was the massive internal bleeding.

Frank, even on his own, was a skilled and quick archer, able to shoot one arrow after another so quickly it was almost like he was an army all on his own. They passed harmlessly through Eddie, but the arrows pierced Carnage faster than they could pull them out.

“You bastard!” They wailed, trying to find cover. “You tricked me!”

Eddie wanted to give some smart comeback, but he was mostly focused on making sure he kept breathing.

“Sorry, sorry, sorry-oh gods,” He heard Hazel run up behind where he lay prone, stopping short when she saw the state he was in. “Oh, oh, oh, oh my gods, I’m sorry, are you okay?”

“Obviously not.” He heard Yelena deadpan. Two gunshots rang out from her, and Venom’s containment jar dropped from the treetops. Eddie managed to grin, relieved that Venom would be able to fix at least most of the damage.

Except the jar dropped to the ground, bounced once, and didn’t shatter.

Eddie frowned. “Shit.” He managed to gasp.

Venom threw himself against the glass, still to no avail. Yelena shot at the jar, but the bullets bounced off. “Careful!” Hazel yelped, ducking for cover.

“That’s not good.” Yelena said, looking slightly worried.

Eddie blinked, and found it odd that it was hard to open his eyes back up again. His body felt numb, like he was covered in pins and needles. Frank was still firing on Carnage, but the red symbiote was beginning to recover from their shock, dodging arrows while they healed, and the archer would run out of ammo eventually.

“Hey,” Yelena leaned in close to Eddie. “You better not stop breathing. I really don’t want to do mouth-to-mouth. Also, don’t die.”

That was probably the kindest thing she had said to him so far. Eddie nodded weakly, and then regretted the motion.

“Adranus must have forged the jar,” Hazel said with mounting horror. “We can’t break it.”

Perhaps not on your own, Hazel Levesque. But you have earned assistance.

The voice rang in Eddie’s mind, and he blinked. He knew that voice, though it felt like he had heard her a million years ago. Maybe he was slowly dying, and this was his mind’s way to cope with his own death.

A symphony of howls filled the air, and a massive wolf with thick red fur stepped out of the shadows. Hazel breathed a shaky breath. “Lupa.”

Lupa’s lips peeled back to reveal rows of razor teeth, but it looked more like a cheeky grin.

We have watched the mortal swallow his pain and pride for the sake of his pack, Lupa said. As courageously as any Roman would.

“You were watchin’?” Eddie rasped, and then winced. “Th’nks...for the h’lp.”

Lupa huffed. It is not our way to interfere unless our help is earned. And here…

Two smaller wolves-and by smaller, it meant they were normal ‘fuck you and your family’ wolf size, still being obnoxiously large, in Eddie’s opinion-nudged the glass jar over to Lupa. The jar looked tiny next to her.

She picked it up easily between her jaws and bit down.

The glass didn’t explode like Eddie hoped it would, but it cracked, and through fading eyes Eddie watched Venom fight to slip through the tiny cracks in the glass. He heard the symbiote squealing, and wondered vaguely if the glass edges cut him in his vulnerable form.

He tried to tell Venom not to hurt himself, but he couldn’t make the sound pass his lips.

With a shriek that was almost certainly pained, Venom burst out of the jar, and back onto Eddie, almost frantic.

“Hey.” Eddie rasped.

And then he passed out.

Notes:

just a lil whump. for funsies

Notes:

come talk to me about weird aliens and get updates on my tumblr!
https://www.tumblr.com/blog/greentea-and-honey

Series this work belongs to:

• Part 2 of Peter Parker and the Olympians