Chapter Text
Multiple cameras and drones on the R&D platform at the Southern Front Base have gone offline. No visual on hostile targets. Immediate backup requested!!
The alarm blared across the base. Venom calmed the anxious commander, then boarded the helicopter. Black holes from other worlds had opened near the base before, but hostile targets were usually taken out by automated defenses. This time, he had to step in himself—must be a tough one. Venom’s expression was grim. He’d promised Kaz he’d protect their home.
The teleportation portal opened, and Venom appeared silently on the deck in a corner of the platform. Peeking out from behind a wall, he saw several defense team soldiers sprawled on the ground—no blood, but they were still breathing. Tranquilizer darts. A soldier still conscious was crouched behind a railing, panicking. Spotting Venom, he snapped a salute. Venom signaled for a report.
“Boss, the target’s breached the first and second platforms. All cameras and drones are down; we can’t pinpoint their location. Last drone went offline near the bridge—target’s likely still there.” The soldier sounded anxious, leaning forward slightly.
Pop. A tranquilizer dart hit him square in the head, and he crumpled.
Venom ducked back into cover, relocating immediately. This was worse than he’d thought—that shot came so fast even he didn’t catch it. Biting down on a perception capsule, Venom crawled cautiously between structures. The alarm had stopped since the target was lost, leaving the platform eerily quiet, save for the waves crashing below. The capsule heightened his senses; Venom could almost hear his own heartbeat. Soon, a translucent figure appeared behind the western wall. Holding his breath, Venom crept closer.
Less than 20 meters out, the target suddenly sensed him, bolting from cover and lunging toward the other end of the platform in a bizarre, frog-like hop—too fast for Venom to track. He hurled a flashbang to disrupt the target’s movement.
A blinding white light exploded. The target stumbled, tossing a smoke grenade toward Venom’s position. Venom dodged, circling around the smoke to pursue.
In the split second before the smoke fully dispersed, Venom glimpsed the target. He's wearing the same stealth suit as him, drenched in blood, with a long black shrapnel shard protruding from his head. It was… himself.
The target seemed to have enhanced perception too, unleashing a spray of bullets. Venom ducked and dodged, gasping, too caught up to process why this person looked exactly like him.
“Boss, got a visual on the target?” The commander’s voice crackled through the earpiece, picking up on Venom’s heavy breathing.
“Yeah, engaging now.” He didn’t know how to explain the target’s appearance.
“Be careful, Boss.”
Kaz’s voice always grounded him. Taking a deep breath, Venom seized a brief lull in the gunfire, calculated the angle, and popped out to fire. This shot was a guaranteed hit!
Venom’s eyes widened. No way… At the moment of impact, a translucent barrier flickered around the target, deflecting the bullet. What kind of tech was this? He’d never seen anything like it. Cold sweat trickled down his temple. “Kaz, he’s got some kind of invisible shield. Bullets can’t get through.”
“What? I’ll send a support team right away!”
“No, hold off. Let me observe a bit more.” Venom pressed himself to the ground, moving to another cover. The perception capsule’s effects had worn off, and he didn’t hear the sniper rifle being set up on the other side.
“Urgh!” A tranquilizer dart hit his shoulder. How? He was still fully behind the wall. The target’s gun—could it shoot through walls? His vision blurred. Venom blinked desperately, trying to stand, refusing to pass out. His legs buckled, and he pitched forward, his earpiece flying off.
“Boss!! What’s happening? Talk to me, Snake!” Kaz’s frantic shouts echoed from the earpiece.
A blood-soaked hand picked up the earpiece. The target had somehow closed the distance and now stood over Venom.
“Kaz…” The target didn’t even glance at Venom, their single eye fixed solely on the earpiece.
VENOM stowed his RENOV-ICKX BIS. The target base was clearly still in its development phase. Wanting to test some new R&D gear, he hadn’t brought lethal weapons. Most of the enemy personnel and equipment were taken out easily, but their leader had some skill—that shot nearly hit him.
He approached the man still writhing on the ground, hit by the wall-penetrating sniper round, ready to deliver the final blow.
“Boss!! What’s happening? Talk to me, Snake!”
His blood froze. He stopped, picking up the dropped earpiece. That voice… just like ten years ago. KAZ. His KAZ.
Kicking the “other self” on the ground aside, VENOM picked up the man’s iDroid and tossed out a stealth shield to restrain the figure.
“KAZ…” His throat bobbed as he spoke the name he hadn’t uttered in so long.
“Boss!? Thank God, what happened?” The concern in that voice, after ten years apart, nearly brought VENOM to tears.
“Nothing. Target’s been neutralized.” Gripping the iDroid tightly, VENOM continued, “KAZ, I need you at the R&D platform immediately. Alone.”
“Uh… okay. What’s going on?”
“It’s an emergency.”
It didn’t take long. A figure with a cane and a trench coat appeared on the R&D platform. Seeing VENOM and the unconscious soldiers scattered around, Kaz limped over hurriedly, his uneven steps echoing.
“Snake!! Are you hurt!?” Kaz, seeing VENOM covered in blood, rushed forward in a panic, grabbing his iDroid to call a medical team, but a blood-stained hand stopped him.
“I’m fine. This isn’t my blood.” VENOM steadied the man who’d lunged at him, his single eye tracking Kaz’s every move.
“The soldiers…”
“They’re fine. Just tranq darts. They’ll wake up soon.” His large hand rubbed Kaz’s remaining left arm. Kaz’s attention shifted back to VENOM. The shrapnel in the man’s head—it seemed there was more of it now, and his gaze wasn’t quite the gentle one Kaz knew. He reached up to touch VENOM’s cheek. “What’s with the shrapnel? You okay?”
VENOM grabbed the hand on his face, pressing it to his palm, nuzzling it to feel its warmth. “KAZ…” His voice was syrupy, and Kaz felt an odd unease.
VENOM opened his arms, pulling Kaz into a tight embrace, as if trying to meld him into his body. His brown hair buried into Kaz’s neck, rubbing and sniffing hard. The thick scent of blood made Kaz frown, but the man’s almost childlike clinginess softened his heart. He patted VENOM’s back, returning the hug. “What’s up? Why so clingy all of a sudden?”
“KAZ…” VENOM said nothing else, just kept murmuring his name.
Something hard pressed against Kaz’s lower abdomen. He gave a wry smile. “No way, this is your emergency? You don’t act like this on the battlefield, do you?” A black-gloved hand slipped into VENOM’s stealth suit pants, firmly grasping the mission target.
VENOM let out a gasp.
No, something’s wrong. Behind the sunglasses, Kaz’s white pupils dilated, the world around him slowing down. This man, whoever he was, was not his Venom.
Kaz pulled his hand back, pretending to stumble weakly into the man’s chest, his hand stealthily reaching for the pistol at his waist. The man was still softly kissing the back of his neck, oblivious to Kaz’s movements.
Two gunshots rang out. The man loosened his grip, dazed. One shot to the side, one to the thigh—non-lethal but enough to hinder his movement. Kaz immediately backed away to a safe distance, aiming his gun at the “VENOM” before him.
“KAZ…” The man, ignoring his gunshot wounds, still gazed at him obsessively, murmuring his name.
“Don’t call me that! Who the hell are you!?” Kaz glared fiercely at the impostor. What was he—a clone, some kind of parasite trick!?
The man panted, still silent. Kaz’s grip on the gun began to tremble. He knew he couldn’t stall any longer. He had to call for backup. Boss’s fate was unknown, and even with the man wounded, Kaz, an old cripple, might not be able to subdue him. He slowly backed away, preparing to switch to his iDroid.
“Haidara!!”
The sudden shout froze Kaz’s movements. An invisible force yanked him instantly toward the man. A wave of dizziness hit, and Kaz had no idea what had just happened.
Five meters away, Venom was trapped in a small stealth shield, pounding desperately. “Kaz!!! That’s not me!! I’m here!!” No matter how he hammered or shot at it, the shield didn’t budge. Kaz, outside, couldn’t see or hear him. Venom could only watch as the impostor raised a prosthetic limb, pulling his Kaz closer.
VENOM held the man in his arms, kissing his forehead, dodging a swinging fist, pinning it down, and pressing Kaz beneath him. A smirk tugged at his lips. His KAZ, just like in his memories, never gave up the fight easily. He gazed at the man beneath him. That handsome face was a bit more weathered than it was ten years ago, cheeks slightly sunken—KAZ clearly hadn’t been eating well. Missing an arm and a leg, yet it didn’t diminish the allure of this body one bit. VENOM leaned down, kissing the cursing mouth.
Blood-smeared lips gnawed at Kaz’s, who turned his face away, only for the prosthetic limb to yank it back. Kaz clamped his lips shut, but VENOM’s tongue forced them open. VENOM wanted to devour KAZ, his tongue ravaging the mouth, scraping teeth and palate, undeterred even when Kaz bit his lower lip. Blood dripped from their joined lips, but VENOM kept taking, the man beneath him nearly suffocating from the kiss.
Finally, VENOM reluctantly released the red, swollen lips, his gaze lingering on Kaz’s heaving chest. The prosthetic hand began pulling at Kaz’s clothes.
Kaz struggled fiercely, almost too much for VENOM to handle. With no other choice, he pulled out handcuffs, securing Kaz to a nearby railing.
“Sorry, I don’t want to hurt you.” His eyes were almost sincere.
“Fuck you, you freak! Who the hell are you? Where’s Snake!?” Kaz spat, furious.
“I am Snake.” VENOM’s eyes drooped, a hint of grievance in his voice. Why was KAZ so harsh? “I missed you so much, KAZ.”
Those familiar puppy-dog eyes momentarily disarmed Kaz. He stared, shocked, at the horned demon before him, only to be snapped out of it by the hands on his body.
VENOM decided to keep doing what he wanted. He pushed aside the trench coat, unbuttoning the shirt to slowly reveal Kaz’s chest. Since his injuries, Kaz had kept himself tightly wrapped up. The once-tanned skin had reverted to its original pallor, and his unexercised muscles had grown soft. VENOM’s hands—one prosthetic, one flesh—started at the collarbone, slowly caressing, kneading the soft chest gently, then moving downward, touching the now-less-defined abs. He wanted to memorize every change in KAZ’s body.
The cold prosthetic hand brushed Kaz’s sensitive chest and abdomen, making him shiver and swallow a moan.
VENOM buried his face in the chest before him, nuzzling like a big dog. The pale skin reddened under the scrape of rough stubble and hair. Kaz had no time to complain, arching back desperately to avoid the demon’s long horns, lest they slit his throat. The prosthetic and flesh hands moved lower, grabbing the commander’s hips, kneading them roughly. KAZ’s ass was softer now, but still plenty to grip, the familiar feel exciting VENOM. He nuzzled the chest harder, then bit down on a pink nipple.
“Ah!” Kaz thrashed again. VENOM focused on sucking the small bud in his mouth, his grip on Kaz’s hips tightening, nearly bruising the flesh.
Venom, pressed against the stealth shield, eyes bloodshot, fists clenched so hard they drew blood. His Kaz was being molested by a stranger, and he could do nothing but watch.
“Boss. Sorry to interrupt your fun, but you need to pull out. The teleportation Wormhole’s got five minutes left.”
VENOM lifted his head, hands still not letting go. “OCELOT, I found KAZ.”
“I saw, Boss. Mission accomplished. Extract the target and withdraw.”
VENOM cradled KAZ’s neck, kissing his forehead. “KAZ, let’s go home.”
“What?” Kaz, still confused by the sudden pause, was plunged into darkness.
Venom shouted, pounding and smashing the shield, slamming his head against the transparent barrier, watching VENOM carry Kaz into the black hole. The moment they vanished, the stealth shield deactivated. He collapsed to his knees, trembling, punching the floor weakly, over and over.