18Young Justice: Chronicles of Venom
Episode 1: Zero Hour Part 1
Cadmus Research Facility #016 "Manhattan"
August 21 2011, 04:30 EDT
It was quiet in the Manhatten Cadmus Facility, as the scientists went about their business. This was a replacement facility; Lex Luthor had had it built secretly to stop the League or that pesky Team poking into their business.
"AAAARRRGGHHHH!" A scream echoed through the halls, though no-one paid notice. One of the scientists, a Doctor Magnus, a man of fifty with grey hair and dark eyes, sighed and turned to his assistant. His
"Jean, why does he keep making that noise?" His red-headed assistant, competent as ever, quickly produced the file. Magnus read it with interest.
"Interesting...he has already reached Stage Two?" Jean nodded, and Magnus smiled darkly. He got up and walked towards the source of the screaming.
Yes, Magnus was the head scientist of the recently created Project Symbiote. It aimed to create an organism that could empower its host, much like what the Scarab did for the original Blue Beetle; improved strength, greater agility, and possibly a regeneration factor. However they had had one problem.
They had no test subject to bond it with. Until a few weeks ago.
Magnus reached a door that was bulky, and put in the passcode. With a hiss the door opened, and putting his hands in his pockets casually, he walked forward, the lights coming on as he walked forwards. Other workers greeted him; to these rookies, he was a mentor.
'Something I don't discourage...' Magnus noted, but eventually reached a vault. He lowered himself and allowed the eyescanner to probe his eye with a beam. A beep indicated that he was indeed the real Doctor Magnus Falkner.
"Hello, Magnus." Xavier noted, and the two shook hands; they had been friends since college, and they had joined Cadmus together. "Here is the report on the Symbiote and the bonding process."
"Thank you Xavier," Magnus said as he browsed the data. "Has the process calmed down, or is it still unstable?" Xavier sighed deeply, pinching between his eyes.
"Unfortunately, the Symbiote bonding process is still going on unstable; the form fluctuates frequently. We've had to employ 'shock treatment'." Xavier made no effort to disguise his disgust at this. Magnus wryly smiled and clapped a hand on the shoulder of his friend.
"Now, now Xavier, we do this for science. No matter the cost," Magnus walked forward, and saw a great deal of chatter, around a large containment room. Magnus peered inside.
The boy of sixteen writhed on the ground in agony, his black hair marred with purple tendrils that originated from his chest, and his green eyes were clenched together in pain. Magnus peered closer; he could see the right hand and legs were covered in the symbiote's liquid form, but unfortunately it looked very painful.
Another scream ripped out from the boy as he continued to jerk around in a seizure from the symbiote bonding with him. An unwanted side effect of the initial bonding process. Magnus pondered the boy.
When they had first created the Symbiote and the abilities it had, harvested from a generous amount of Venom drug given by Bane after being bought, though the other abilities had been genetically engineered. Nevertheless, they had had no test subject to even try the bonding process.
However, they had discovered an orphan that had nothing left to lose; William Foreman, whose parents had been voluntary members of the smaller splinter teams of the Justice League. The boy had been ridiculously easy to manipulate due to the hatred of the Justice League itself, but had also been rather forceful to use him.
"Well, how are we doing today Mister Foreman?" Magnus said through the glass. "Feeling better?" In a flash, Will had leapt at the glass, smashing a now clawed hand against it. Magnus stepped back in surprise.
"Damn you..." Will growled, and Magnus could see the Symbiote spreading faster. "Damn you TO HELL!" Will smashed his fist against the glass, again and again and again, roaring every time.
"You BASTARDS! I'LL KILL YOU WHEN I GET OUT OF HERE!" Will roared again, with the Symbiote reacting to the anger, as the youth continued his rampage. Magnus turned to a female aide.
"Turn up the shock recepticles." He ordered crisply, and she nodded, pressing a button and adjusting with a keyboard.
Out of the walls emerged pikes that were charged with electricity, the generators safely behind the walls to prevent Will from destroying them. A low hum buzzed before beams of lightning shot out, hitting Will in the back and forcing him off the glass. He wretched in pain as his wounds were healed over and over by the Symbiote's own regeneration capabilities, that was visibly slower than usual.
Despite the breakthrough of the Symbiote, it had three main weaknesses; huge amounts of electricity, heat, and high-pitched sound. These three things had shown that the Symbiote was hardly able to regenerate itself after being exposed to them, and was a major setback for future developments.
"Release the hounds," Magnus ordered curtly. His assistants looked at him in confusion. "A battle test if you would; time to see the Symbiote in action." Xavier sighed heavily before pressing a button, releasing the lock on several hatches which promptly opened.
Out of the hatches emerged half-machine half-organic wolf hybrids that looked like Rottweilers. Even though their eyes were obstructed by a headpiece, they were no less deadly. Magnus had named this series 'Nephilim' due to their tendency to eat each other.
"Well Mister Foreman, let us see what you can do." Magnus said, as the beasts edged ever closer to the still barely-conscious Symbiote host.
'Damn it...' Will thought as those demonic beasts trudged closer to him, close enough he could see the spit on the sharpened teeth. He could barely move; the electricity was making it hard to even remain awake.
'Why? Why did I have to...' Will wondered why he had even joined Project Symbiote, since he had begun to get past that particular trauma of his life-he had even gotten a girlfriend, Maria Cadenzavna Eve, around his age with hair coloured coral and cyan eyes; a rare characteristic, but he had loved them all the same.
'And I won't get to see her again...' Will lamented as his whole life began flashing before his eyes; his early years with his parents and subsequent foster homes and incidents he would rather leave buried in his mind.
'I guess...it's time to give up...' And Will closed his eyes, ready for the inevitable, which was only a few moments away, before a dark voice echoed in his mind.
'Really? Is this all you got? I expected more.' Will could barely hear this weird voice inside his head, but did it really matter?
'Just leave me to die...whatever you are...' Will asked without threat. He was just so tired of it all, he just wanted to die already.
'So very pathetic William! Are you really going to give up on everything?' The voice asked scathingly. 'Even her?' Flashes of Maria painted Will's view, of their time together. And slowly, he realised he would not let this happen.
'I can't leave her...not yet! I won't!' He clenched his fist, and the Symbiote didn't hurt as much; he filled with determination, with sheer will to survive! The voice seemed pleased, and the black material began to spread even more up Will's body. As the black Symbiote crawled upward, his physique began to bulge a little, and as the material covered his face, serrated one-way view large white 'lenses' covered his eyes. His mouth, too was covered, but the Symbiote made his teeth jagged and purple, making it seem every inch of him was covered in the Symbiote.
'Yes Will. Use my power, save yourself! MAIM THESE PATHETIC MAGGOTS!' Yes! Will would do exactly that! He would kill all of them for keeping him from her!
"RRRAAAARRRGGGHHHH!" Will let out a mighty roar as the transformation completed, and launched himself at the attack dogs, baring his claws to slice into the miserable excuses of cyborgs!
He sent a clawed hand through a Nephilim's open mouth, and continued with the velocity, ripping it violently open length wise. He violently ripped his hand out of the creature's flank, and the creature collapsed dead, and fell apart in two. He eyed another one, and he readied himself again.
The creature and another leapt at him, but Will, consumed by the Symbiote's own power, reared a hand back before sending it forward, with the limb transforming into a spear, as well as extending the tendril right through the Nephilim's head and subsquently the brain. He ripped the tendril out, before the other creature bound at his back, and Will growled; in a moment, sharp tendrils had erupted out of his back and stabbed through the Nephilim in various points.
Will felt very hungry all of a sudden, and unconsciously he drew the tendrils in, and allowed the Symbiote to 'eat' the corpse, which made him double over with euphoria; it was too good a taste to never have again!
He ran at the corpse of the other Nephilim and began devouring it with his mouth and tearing it up like a wild animal, sending guts and other such things flying while consuming the meat. Magnus and the other scientists looked disgusted but pleased; however, Xavier threw up into a small bucket from the grotesque imagery. Will sniffed before seeing the last Nephilim, which wisely tried to escape the closed off room.
Will narrowed his eyes, the lenses responding as well appropriately. He licked his lips, his tongue morphing for a brief time into a long red one which promptly retracted. Yes, he would enjoy this meal. He stalked forward, one step at a time. The Nephilim attempted to run in a different direction, before Will sent an arm-tendril at it, slicing off a leg and crippling it. He came forward, and stopped before the pitiful creature.
Why hadn't he given into the madness before?
Magnus was in awe at the power of the Symbiote-infused teenager. Others were relieving themselves of their early breakfast.
'Yes...this is perfect!' Magnus watched as Will, having finished his meal, bound over the walls and began smashing at the hatches, clearly wanting more.
"More...moremoremoremoremoreMOREMOREMORE!" Will shrieked out, and Magnus saw the walls begin to crack under the pressure of the boy's blows. He turned to his aid again.
"Activate shock treatment. It's time to put him back in his cage." The pikes emerged again, and once again huge bolts of electricity hit Will in the back, distorting the Symbiote and causing him to scream in intense agony.
This continued for several seconds before he tumbled to the ground, obviously unconscious. Several armoured guards came in and, hooking a hand underneath each of Will's arms, dragged him off to a special containment room, designed to keep the Symbiote under wraps.
"Well, I'm off to report this to The Light. Keep sharp everyone." Magnus said, and the scientists tightened up. Xavier walked with Magnus, side to side. As they reached the conference room, before the seven screens lit up, Xavier turned to Magnus.
"The Symbiote is potent...too potent, Magnus. You saw what it did in there." Magnus snorted briefly, before regarding Xavier.
"It doesn't matter what morals we have Xavier, we just have to follow orders." Yes, Magnus knew that well, from back home in Germany. Just how violent bosses could get. Xavier quietened downas the seven screens lit up, left to right.
"Well Doctor Magnus, what progress do we have regarding the Symbiote?" L-1 asked, and Magnus uploaded the data from the Symbiote to the console in front of him. The information reached The Light, and the seven read it briefly.
"As you can see, the bonding process has yielded favourable results; in addition to the super strength gene, there is also an ability to control tendrils and fashion its limbs into weapons. The regeneration factor isn't active yet, but when the Symbiote develops fully into Stage Three, we expect more results." Magnus spieled, and L-3 clapped appreciatively.
"Well, I must say Doctors Magnus and Xavier, you two have impressed us greatly. We expect great things from you regarding the Symbiote." The two felt pride; Magnus and Xavier had always enjoyed being praised for a job well done.
"He's a pretty fiesty guy isn't he?" The annoying voice of L-7 cut in, which had Magnus groan. "I mean, he's really bloodthirsty! Just look at it!"
"You two are dismissed for now," L-2 said to the two scientists, and the two men walked out of the room, allowing The Light to conference.
"Indeed, I must admit this Project has been bearing favourable fruits," L-2 spoke up again, and looked at the scans and data gained from the Symbiote. "It is a good thing that I sanctioned part use of the Lazarus Pit." The other collaborators complied with that opinion.
"Never the less, the creature itself has some flaws we must correct in the future," L-3 noted wisely. "As well as this, it will never do for the Symbiote to be locked up." The other Light members' interests were peaked.
"What is it you have in mind, L-3?" L-1 asked, and L-3 had a self-important sound to his low chuckle. "Well?"
"I say we let the Justice League's prebuescent group trash the institute as well as releasing the Symbiote. It is obviously powerful enough to escape." L-2 piped in.
"What purpose would it serve to have the Manhatten institute compromised? It has all the technology and notes needed for the synthesis of a Symbiote. If we lose it, the Justice League will learn everything about the project." L-2 noted with a sage-like intelligence.
"Not quite true, my dear L-2," L-3 said smugly. "I happen to have all the data stored on my personal terminals, which I have just shared with you all." They were all confused.
"Whaddya mean, L-3? Be straight forward about this!" L-7 demanded, and they were, indeed, all confused about the third member's comment.
"Doctor Magnus Falkner," L-3 said finally. "He has an eidetic memory, which means he can remember everything he sees. And Professor Xavier Lee, the one with the technological know-how. Reportedly, he could create a bomb out of cheap house materials." He let the information sink in. "During the Team's raid, I can have an operative smuggle them out early enough to ensure the Justice League can never find them."
"Well, L-3, in case this backfires, I hope you have a backup." L-1 growled out, as they logged out one by one. Lex Luthor-L-3, smirked.
"Don't worry Savage. I plan for every outcome after all."
Outside Cadmus Research Facility #016, "Manhattan"
August 21 2011, 22:30 EDT
"Now remember, we must stick to the plan." Aqualad said to the other members of The Team, as they prepared to infiltrate the Cadmus facility here in Manhatten. Kid Flash, predictably, sighed.
"Oh come on! This is Cadmus! We bust into this place a few times!" Superboy clenched a fist at the memory of his 'birth' at Cadmus, at how they had used him. It really made him angry.
"Aqualad's got a point though K.F." Dick Grayson, aka Robin, pointed out. "All we gotta do is get in there, I hack the databases and motion sensors for the information of whatever this 'Project Symbiote' is and we get out."
"I mean, you are such an idiot sometimes." Artemis, the resident archer since Red Arrow hadn't decided to join. "We can't go in based on your previous encounters! This is another base, which means they'll have additional countermeasures give or take." Aqualad nodded.
"Thank you Artemis. Now," Robin brought up an electronic layout of the base. "This Cadmus facility does not have fifty-two sub levels, rather only ten, and from Robin's hacking we've determined that the first nine are for research and development, experimentation and so on," Superboy growled.
"But we think that sub level ten is where this Project Symbiote is located. But this facility more than makes up for its lack of sub levels." Aqualad let Robin finish off.
"From this hologram, there is a complex hallway system, and many of the doors to the lower levels require an eyescan, fingerprint scan and a key code. I should be able to break it, but it'll take more than a few minutes for each one, so we'll need to be stealthy." Robin gestured for Superboy to rip off the airduct covering they stood in front of.
"Remember S.P., don't go nuts in there because of what Cadmus made you, alright? We need you calm and quiet for this." Superboy brushed off Robin's hand and tore off the airduct covering with relative ease, and leapt down into the duct with a growl. The rest of The Team followed, and Robin was left to sigh.
"Would it be too much to at least get a 'yes' out of him?" Robin slung down into the airduct, following the others. "I mean seriously, just one little yes every now and then; it wouldn't hurt him!"
Well, hello there folks of ! I am ForteOfTheBallad98, and this is my first ever fanfiction, crossing over my two favourites; Young Justice and the Symbiote. Just so you know, the Symbiote/Will hybrid will be known as Venom in the future, but not right now 'cause if you haven't noticed he's all sorts of crazy.
Also, I alluded to a future character, Maria Cadenzavna Eve, who is from Senki Zessho Symphogear, and will most likely have her two sidekicks Kirika and Shirabe join her when she makes her appearance. In this continuity, the Symphogear is a battle armour not unlike Iron Man, but if you've seen it the concept will remain relatively unchanged.
And also, every 'episode' will either be divided into two parts, three parts or four parts, which ever format allows me to put enough content into a chapter. Also, in the future, I will be writing a Symphogear fanfiction crossed over with Megaman, the basic premise being that Forte Cross will have been transported to the Symphogear universe by Nebula Grey's destruction.
But anyway, enjoy reading and please read and review!