VENOM

A Taste of Revenge

Leo pulled up the the professor's house, and reviewed the file: professor Viktor Rankin, biologist, geneticist, and low key mad scientist.
I ssssmell him. He is inside.
Leo sighed, threw his hood up, and stepped out of his car.
Get close, and close your eyes.
Leo nodded and rested his forehead against a wall, then shut his eyes.

Inside his home, Rankin sat alone on his couch. As he sipped on some wine, he was playing classical music, and reading through the newspaper. The headline: "The Monster of Middleburg Strikes Again!"
Rankin pulled up his phone, pressed a button, and raised it to his ear.
"Amazing." The scientist chuckled. "I had no idea Venom could become so..potent." they could hear a voice on the other end.
"The boy is a suitable host..."
Sssschema.
"...By bonding the symbiote with a sickly host, rather than a healthy, it seems the infusion of the two had better success."
"That it does, professor. But Venom has already claimed two people. How many more until we can get this situation under control?"
"Not much longer, my old friend. We have a lead on leverage. Soon, he will come to us."
"Well, I hope you are right. I'll have that new serum cooked up by tomorrow morning...are you sure having it done at home was safer?"
"But of course. If any of the others discovered it, it'd be an arms race to control the symbiote."
They heard his phone click, and in almost a flash, they stood before Rankin. Rankin dropped his drink in panic, and stumbled back.
"It's..it's you. The test subject." Leo balled his fists and took a step forward, crushing the glass fragments under his boot.
"In the flesh. Now, professor, you're gonna tell us all we wanna know."
"U-us?" Venom overtook Leo, and the beast wrapped an enlarged hand around the scientist's midsection.
"Yess...uss...Where are the othersss?"
"Others?" Venom squeezed, and Rankin cried out in pain.
"There were four in that room..where are the other ssscientistss?"
"You'll never get the information..you freak of nature!" He spat defiantly. Venom slammed him onto his knees, shattering them, and grabbed Rankin's head with both hands.
"That's okay." Venom sneered. "We don't need your mouth..just your brain."
Screams echoed through the halls as Venom squeezed the skull of doctor Rankin. His skin turned a deep red as tiny tendrils looped around and in his eye sockets, and oozed into his nose and ears. His screams quickly muffled as tendrils pierced his throat. Knowledge flooded their minds as it drained from the doctor's. Names and faces began popping up:
De Santa, the man at the injection machine.
Rayes, a nurse who turned up the voltage beyond the danger zone simply for her sadistic pleasure. Jenkins, leader of the chemists who worked on the serum
And finally, Schema, the puppetmaster.

Their desire satisfied, with a snap and a twist, they decapitated their former torturer. Venom tossed the skull aside, and the two left as the monster retracted into his hand, and he put his hood up.
De Santa.
Rayes.
Jenkins.
Schema.
All must die.
"Yes..all must die."

"What did you learn, Newton? Police feeds are going nuts over the doctor being..decapitated." Madan said sharply. Leo simply grinned, leaning against a wall across the street from the crime scene.
"I got names. Faces. That's about it."
"Well? What are they?"
"De Santa, Rayes, Jenkins, Schema. Cross reference them, see what projects they've worked together on."
"Clever. On it."
"Text me what you find. I'm going to check on Tommy and his mother. They just got back into town."
"Be careful. They might be watching the house."
"I'm counting on it." Leo hung up, and followed the road to his home.

"We got home as soon as we heard about this..monster." Tommy explained, tossing his bag onto his bed. "Three people dead in as many days, all caught on camera, they say."
"Yeah. Quite a mess." Tommy's mother walked in, and hugged the two tight.
"I dunno what I'd do if you two would get hurt."
"I'm..fine..mama." Leo squeaked. Even though she wasn't his biological, or even adoptive mother, he still called her 'mama'. "The monster isn't gonna come here."
"Oh how I wish I had your confidence, hun. You two hungry at all?"
"No, Ma, me 'n Leo are fine."
"Yeah. We're okay." She smiled at the two, a fake, but efforted smile, and left.

Leo fiddled with his phone, debating on if he should contact Sam or not. He cared for her deeply, so the last thing he wanted was painting her as a target for the Life Foundation.
They are coming.
"I know."
Thomas and his mother will get caught in the crossfire.
"I know."
Do you have a plan?
"Yup."
Does it involve getting captured?
"Definitely."
Why do we have a bad feeling about this plan?
"Because it's gonna hurt, a lot. But it'll get us close enough to strike at them." Leo and Venom heard tires squeal outside, and doors slam. Leo took a deep breath, climbed down, and went to the door. Outside was several trucks, filled with soldiers, when one stepped out.
"Leo Newton! Venom! We know you're in there! Come out with your hands behind your head, and the other two will be left alone." He closed his eyes, took another deep breath, and turned the door handle.