18Young Justice: Chronicles of Venom
Episode 1: Zero Hour Part 2
"Remind me to always climb into a grate after you sweetcheeks," Wally said flirtatiously to the attractive butt of Megan. Superboy growled somewhere in front of them.
"Uh..." Megan said lamely, trying to deflect attention, while Artemis groaned as well.
"Could you please tone down the idiocy up there? Seriously, I'm gonna barf." Said the green clad archer. Kaldur agreed.
"Yes, please tone yourself down Wally, at least until the mission is completed." Kaldur said wisely, and Wally groaned, but agreed. At least Wally had some standards, even if they were very few in between each other.
"Alright," Dick said activated the GPS in his gloves, and looked at the map. "We should be coming up on an exit grate right about...now." Superboy punched forward at this, and the grate hit the opposite wall, softer than they expected.
They each slid out one by one, until each of them were out of the airway, and Robin took another look at his GPS. The floor they were currently on was highlighted in blue, the others in white. "Alright, we're on the first sublevel, so what we need to do is find the access doors to the lower levels."
They proceeded with caution, Artemis with her bow loaded with an arrow, and Wally dashed around the corners fast, acting as a sentry as the group continued on their way. Superboy regarded the whole thing with an intense loathing; if anything, he would have wanted to avoid going to another Cadmus facility.
But no! Red Tornado had said they had a mission here, to investigate this Project Symbiote, and if Superboy was right, knowing Cadmus it was another attempt to create a super-powered creature to do their dirty work.
"Superboy, calm down," Megan said soothingly, and Superboy felt his nerves slow down. "We know it's hard for you to be here, in another Cadmus facility."
"No, you don't!" Superboy said angrily. "I was grown in a test tube to be their lapdog! Has that happened to any of you? I don't think so!" Kaldur put a hand on his shoulder.
"Superboy, please, we need to focus on this mission. At least wait until it's over to vent your frustrations." Superboy said nothing, but rather pettily shook off Kaldur's hand. Kaldur sighed into himself.
"Alright gang," Wally said, zooming back. "I took a quick jog, and found the door leading down a few more levels. Good news is that it's unguarded. Bad news is that by the time Rob hacks it, a few scientists will round the corner." Robin bit his lower lip, before Artemis stepped forward.
"Is there a closet near the scientists?" She asked, and Wally blinked; why would that be important? But he recalled he had seen such a thing.
"Yeah, I saw one on the way back. Why?" He asked, and Artemis rolled her eyes in annoyance at Wally's supposed intelligence.
"Look, I'll knock them out and put them in there. That way, we'll get through the door, and have reached the bottom floor by the time they wake up. Got it?" They all nodded, and Artemis set out.
"Alright, let me just plug this in here," Robin pulled out a USB cable from his glove and plugged it into the terminal. "And let's have a happy hacking." The usual CPU opponents appeared and Robin smirked; time to show these Cadmus wannabes he was the best.
Artemis continued, cautiously, towards the place the annoying speedster had said where the closet was located. She didn't need her bow at the moment; she had loaded her hand-carried crossbows with tranq darts, something she had always carried, even before becoming a member of The Team.
...Hey, it pays to be prepared, right?
She saw the door to the storage closet soon enough, and with her night-vision installed in her mask-because of the stealth-purpose of the mission, part of which was why Kid Flash's costume was now black with red. Was it her or did black seem much better on him? At the end of the corridor, she saw two female scientists-one with blond hair loosely falling to the middle of her back, and a red-haired one as well. Cursing, she ducked into the closet, leaving the door slightly open in order for her to subdue the passing scientists.
She ruffled through some boxes, coming into possession of some rope and a few rolls of silver duct tape. She smirked; duct tape was incredibly good at keeping people secured, and she would really need it right now.
She placed her ear to the door, patiently waiting as the footsteps grew louder and louder, until she could hear the conversation between them.
"...onestly Jean, you should ask Scott out; he really likes you!" A teasing voice, and the other one stammered in embarassment, probably with a blush. 'About fifteen seconds...' Artemis estimated.
"C-come on Felicia! He's always working in the garage with his brother Alex. And besides, he probably doesn't really like scientists!" Jean protested, and Artemis chose to strike.
As they passed, Artemis ducked out of the door and with precision strikes to the temple she took down the red haired girl, and as the blond turned around, Artemis used a three-fingered throat stab to knock her out. It should be noted, however, Artemis knew the severity the technique could be put to, and she also knew how to withdraw much of the severity.
She managed to brace them, before they hit the ground and caused the mission to go up in flames. She sent out a telepathic message. 'Got 'em. How's opening the door working?'
'Meh, these Cadmus amateurs! I'm breaking through protocols like its Pinata day!' She heard Robin's enthusiastic thoughts, before she heard a mental sigh from Aqualad who replied in the only language she knew; American.
'What Robin means is that everything is going according to plan. Do what you need to do and get back here ASAP.' Artemis 'nodded' and, bringing the incapacitated females into the closet, began to secure them.
She wrapped rope around their chests and wrists several times, before taking a long piece of rope and tying it around their midsection, making them bound back-to-back. To reinforce the measures she had taken, Artemis wrapped tape around the midsection rope four times, before taping their legs together, making sure they couldn't move. Then, she ripped off several strips of duct tape, and plastered three onto the mouths of her captives. Making sure they couldn't move, she then retreated out the door and closed it quietly behind her. As she did so, she jammed the door's handle, making sure it would be hard to get into that closet or out of it.
'I'm done. Making my way back to you guys.' She did so stealthily, and had to admit even with her skills she was nearly caught by cameras a few times. Unlike Kid Flash, who ran at speeds that made sure he wouldn't be spotted by cameras, Artemis did not have that luxury, and had to do it the old fashioned way..
It was part of why she disliked him, really, when she thought about it. He had the gift that would've made her life a lot easier; he didn't appreciate that stealth and ninja-like skills had to be earned, not granted or created in a science experiment. She breathed out to calm herself down, and reached the others soon after.
"Alright, the code is cracked. And I have to say it was a pretty solid wall." Robin noted, as the door opened and accepted all of them inside. "I've only seen encryption levels like that at the Batcave, so Cadmus must really want to keep this Project Symbiote secret."
"Yeah, but you broke that stuff!" Kid Flash gestured wildly, nearly hitting Artemis, who growled and hit him in the head for his idiocy. "Ow, what was that for?"
"That was for being an idiot." Artemis said dryly. "And this is a stealth-based mission. Don't you know the meaning of subtlety?" Kid Flash grew red in the face, and prepared to argue with her before Aqualad silenced them with a slicing hand motion.
'We are to remain silent unless absolutely necessary.' Aqualad cautioned and reminded them. 'Artemis is right Kid Flash-be silent, if you can. But that does not give you the right ,Artemis, to discipline him. We save it for after the mission.'
Everyone fell quiet, and walked on. Their shoes clicked and clacked against the stairs, stopping when Robin needed to hack into new corridors.
Once they reached the bottom floor, the group proceeded through the newly opened doors, they beheld a very surprising sight. Appropriately, Robin let out one of his quips that he was famous for. "Holy smokes..."
They had ventured across a laboratory of sorts, full of huge glass columns with some sort of black liquid inside them, the pale reflected light shading their forms. Several terminals were closed down, with only a few still with the screens alight.
"This is some seriously advanced lab equipment right here," Kid Flash noted with interest. "A FastRep cell disruptor, a Gene Pulsor electroporation unit with Pulse Controller, even a few Revco and Sanyo ultralow freezers! Whatever's going down, they have the tech to do it."
"Here," Robin pointed out, sitting down at a terminal and hooking up his gauntlet to it. "This terminal's still active. If I can hack into it, I'll be able to see what this Project Symbiote really is." The teenage genius set to work, bypassing all of the security protocols.
"I'm in. So let's see here..." Robin said, browsing through the files on the computer screen, eyes following each folder he opened and closed. Until...
"There it is." Aqualad pointed to the file, and Robin stopped to see the label. Sure enough, it said 'Project: Symbiote". As Robin opened the folder, Aqualad commented with, "Now, let us see what this information contains."
Robin nodded, and browsed through the files before coming across one that sparked interest. "Huh, what's this? 'Bonding Process-Phase Two'? And it's a video file."
"We should watch it then, or at least download the files to your hypereffective computer gauntlets." Kid Flash suggested, and Robin began downloading all of the files, playing the file at the same time. "Though, it IS Cadmus we're talking about, so it's bound to be creepy." Kid Flash shivered as someone crawled over his grave.
Robin shrugged, and played it. In about two seconds they were gasping and watching as the black liquid took over whoever the host was supposed to be. Their attention was also drawn to the silver-haired man and the bald one outside of the glass cage.
"Wait a minute, that's Magnus Falkner!" Kid Flash outburst, and as the others looked at him in confusion, he sighed and elaborated. "Magnus Falkner, the lead scientist in genetics at the minute. Heard on the news that he'd retired. Guess that part was wrong."
Then the video moved onto the monstrous life-form the host had transformed into, when he had decimated those strange hound creatures. Megan averted her eyes at some of the more bloody carnage that was wrought.
Superboy clenched his fist at his side, anger beginning to froth and brim to the surface. All of this experimentation...on innocent people as well! It was just like Cadmus, those sadistic, sadistic bastards! Aqualad took note, and put a hand on Superboy's shoulder.
"Superboy, calm down. Please, I know this makes you angry-it makes all of us angry Cadmus conducts such experiments, but just wait." Superboy tried to resist the freaky fish guy; but in the end he had to submit, because for all of his dislike of Aqualad, he was kind, thoughtful and very logical.
"Alright, now that the main theatrics are over, let's see what else Cadmus has under development," Robin said, browsing through different folders. "Hmm, what's this one? It's titled, 'Project Patriot'. What the..."
All of a sudden, a red alarm sounded, beeping very very loudly, enough that Superboy was temporarily brought to his knees due to his enhanced hearing.
"WARNING! WARNING! UNAUTHORISED ACCESS DETECTED! ACTIVATING SECURITY MEASURES!" From the ceiling, drones began to crawl out of ducts. The Team looked them over; they looked like pods with four legs attached, moving like a spider, but with one difference.
These ones had giant FUCKING LASER CANNONS aimed right at them!
"Damn it!" Robin cursed, as the Team went into action, trying to disable the security drones. "They're connected to the main generator! If I want to shut them down, I'll have to bring down the grid!"
"Well hurry up then!" Artemis barked, sending an exploding arrow right at two of the Drones, making them scrap metal in the process, before she whipped around and stabbed an arrow into another, shorting it out temporarily.
"Alright, here goes!" Robin said, and began to shut down the generator that fuelled Cadmus, and just as he did so, he heard "STOP!", but it was too late. All electronics shut down, the room being bathed in a red light.
"Do you idiots realise what you've done?" Magnus Falkner was in a fury, as he set to work trying to undo the damage these imbeciles had done. If they had disabled the entire primary generator, then that would mean...
"Uh, we stopped your spider slayers from SLAYING us!" the one in the tacty green outfit argued, her bow now slung around her shoulder. "What's the big hissy fit for anyway?"
"I don't have to tell you anything, sidekicks!" Magnus barked, fear overcoming the rage. If the Symbiote broke free, it was only a matter of time before he found his way right to them!
Suddenly, he found himself hoisted up and slammed into a wall. He coughed violently as he saw the person with the super-strength. "Ah, Project KR. We were wondering where you had gone."
Superboy growled, and reared back a fist before he was stopped by the half-Atlantean. "Stop! We need him for information!" Superboy growled, but let down Magnus, who proceeded to cough violently before he was asked by the Atlantean.
"If you do not wish to repeat that incident, you will tell us what you are worried about." Aqualad said calmly, but Magnus saw the underlying threat for what it was. A threat.
"The Symbiote...by now you have all of the files on your drives, don't you?" Robin nodded, and Magnus continued. "Then you are aware that the Symbiote's weaknesses include high-frequency sonic waves, heat and copious amounts of electricity."
"After the bonding had completed, we had the Symbiote brought to a special holding cell until we could control him. What security measures there were included a complete electric field, barring its way out. And because of the high energy demand, it was hooked up to the main generator, which you just shut down." Understanding dawned on the faces of the brats, and Magnus tried to finally hammer his point home.
"Don't you see? The Symbiote is now free! He will come for me and my co-workers, and he will not stop until he has our heads!"
It was cold. Very cold.
The cell itself was a steel grey, but Will's thoughts were disorientated; what was he now? What were some of these thoughts that were not his own?
'What happened to me? What are we?'
'Why am I thinking in third person? Because we are one, William.'
The voice, the dark voice that had enticed him back at the testing room whispered, and Will could hardly fight it. Could hardly move even, as the Symbiote continued to adjust to him, becoming something even more deadly than before.
He felt pain from the electric field, which further disjointed his thoughts. It hurt. It felt like every hair was being plucked out of his pores. He whimpered, and the noise was distorted by the Symbiote that had covered him and covered him still, making it sound more like a growl.
The scientists on the other side of the electric fence did not even spare him a glance.
A fierce rage threatened to consume him, and his now prevalent sharp, white teeth clenched together, and as he growled at them, a long red tongue slunk out of his mouth, licking his face before retreating. They were heartless! They couldn't see the pain he was in-they wouldn't see the pain he was in, because they couldn't stomach the fact they had RUINED HIS LIFE!
"RRRRAAGGGHHH!" He roared, and the Symbiote 'smiled' in his inner eye. 'Good, feed that rage, William. Become the beast you are denying that you are. Embrace that killer instinct!'
'I...I'm not a killer! I never was! I don't want to kill anyone...' He tried to argue, but it came across as feeble in comparison to the Symbiote.
'Come now, William, you know, deep down, that to prevent harm to your precious people, you would kill all that threaten them. And you have more than enough of your father in you to secure that you love to fight.'
The internal argument was cut short when there was a low buzzing, and then slowly, but surely, the electric field went off. The scientists, those bastards, were now ashen-faced, scared and wondering what the hell was going on.
Will's mouth, covered by the Symbiote material and covered with teeth that were extra pointy, morphed into a psychotic grin, and the Symbiote finally adjusted completely to him, becoming unique.
In a mirror, he caught a brief glance of his form now. His eyes were piercing yellow, with no pupils or anything-just a solid, cat-like yellow. There were also large white patches around the eyes, spiking up at the ends, upwards and downwards, making the patches seem similar to Kamen Rider Kiva, from this show he had watched.
His fingers were now claws, deadly and pointed. The same was accounted for his toes-it seemed that the Symbiote had destroyed his footwear. He flexed his hands, clenched them into fists, and curled his toes. Everything felt more powerful, less restrained.
More...Deadly.
He stepped forward, slowly and dramatically, as the scientists were now worked up in a panic, and a fierce rage fueled him, and he roared to the heavens, hoping that Magnus would hear him.
"MMMMAGGGNNNUUUUSSSS! WE ARE COMING FOR YOU, AND WE WILL CONSUME EVERY LAST PIECE OF YOUR FILTHY CORPSE! OUR REVENGE WILL BE FULFILLED!"
"FEAR US, FOR WE ARE VENOM!"
And he leapt forward, claws flashing, creating a path of carnage, of blood, and of a teenager overcome by an organism. Wanting revenge. Craving it.
And he would get it, if it was the last thing he would do!
Hey guys, I hope this chapter more than makes up for the long absence. You know, GCSE's have that effect on you and your psyche.
So yep, Venom has officially been born! And that whole few lines at the end was inputted just to illustrate how angry Will is, and remember what the Symbiote could do in canon? Increased Spidey's anger higher.
And for Venom's design, I'm going for something influenced by the second Venom, Angelo Fortunato, as well as Mac Gargan, Venom Numero Tres, because despite the fact I love Venom's original design, I really want to pay tribute to the Venom's with the greatest design.
By the way, it was a terrible shame how they wasted Angelo; he had a LOT of potential, and they just killed him off at the snap of fingers. Oh, and the next chapter will be the end of the three parter known as Zero Hour, and next chapter there will be a lot of fighting. I will say to you guys now, Megan will be pretty much beaten early on, 'cause I really don't like her character or her later methods in information gathering.
Oh, and I wonder what 'Project Patriot' is? It certainly isn't foreshadowing! Hehe, let's just see if you guys can guess what'll happen in future instalments. Let's just see.