Post by Deleted on Oct 18, 2014 15:17:26 GMT -5
TOXIN
#1 - Birth of Toxin
Part 1
Written by comixmaster
Ah, New York. Don’t ever change.
Spider-Man tilted his head slightly to the side as a bullet zipped past his ear. He splattered the gunners’ weapons with his webs as he flipped over their masked faces. He landed on the side of a wall.
My name—you guessed it—is Spider-Man.
The webbed wonder sprung off the wall and delivered a fierce kick on a gunner’s chest. The criminal dropped his webbed gun as he plopped onto the ground, unconscious.
You could call me…a super hero, but—
Spider-sense! Spider-Man could feel a fist approaching his head. He ducked just in time for the goon to whiff terribly. That gave Spider-Man just the opening he needed. He threw a punch of his own—right into the criminal’s jaw. The man went flying down the alley.
—most people call me a menace.
Spider-Man looked behind himself to see a whole new group of thugs, ready and waiting to tear him apart.
All my life I’ve been underappreciated. So why do I do this? Why do I put on a stupid costume and fight low-lives like these guys?
Spider-Man crouched so low that his chin just barely touched the concrete.
Because a few months ago, I learned a hard lesson in responsibility.
Spider-Man sprang. He practically jumped in the middle of the thugs. He moved with grace and finesse—delivering punches & kicks left & right and up & down, countering every attack his spider-sense caught. His speed was too much for them, yet they didn’t back down. Even though it was futile, they tried attacking him, only to get it blown up in their faces—almost literally.
The young hero looked around at the unconscious bodies around him. He straightened out his hood and adjusted his goggles, then tightened the laces on his shoes. He was becoming great at fighting groups of enemies. Of course, this group didn’t have any pushovers. Spider-Man had taken out wrestlers twice their size with less effort.
A few months ago, a person very special to me was murdered. What hits me hardest is that…I could have prevented it. I saw the killer just a few hours before he killed this special person—my uncle, Ben. He and Aunt May took me in when I was little. They raised me. They taught me some good lessons, but when Uncle Ben died, I learned the hardest lesson of all: when you are given great power, you are also given great responsibility.
Spider-Man began climbing a wall, slowly at first, but quickly went faster. He reached the top and put all his strength into his jump. He began web-swinging through New York. He was getting better at swinging, too.
So, that’s why I’m doing this. Those Fantastic Four guys, they deal with stuff like life-threatening organizations and tyrannical super-villains. They’re too busy protecting the world. Me? I’m busy protecting its people. Out there, everybody has someone like Uncle Ben. It’s my job—my responsibility—to keep all the Uncle Bens safe. I’ve dealt with super-villains, too, of course. My first super-villain was named “the Lizard.” I won’t say much about his…origin story, but it miiight have had to do with me. My second super-villain maaay have had to do with me, too. His name was—
“Screeeeehh!”
Oh poop.
A burly figure emerged from the rooftops and jumped at Spider-Man. The web-slinger had no time to react, as his spider-sense seemed to be taking a break. The monster wrapped its bulky arms around Spider-Man and pulled him to the ground. They crashed into an empty alley similar to the one Spider-Man had fought the thugs in. The monster rolled over on top of him and pinned him to the ground. A long, pink tongue slithered out of its mouth and hung close to Spider-Man’s half-mask.
“V—Venom?!” the wall-crawler mustered.
“Hello again, Ssssspider-Man,” Venom hissed.
“Hufff…That…hiss is…still annoying…Gughh…” The web-slinger couldn’t do much but struggle under Venom’s grasp.
“Shhhut it, ssspider. I’m here to make a proposal.”
“Hueghh…Get…off…of…me!” One of Spider-Man’s legs was free. He delivered a swift kick across Venom’s jaw.
The monster screeched and backed off. “Grrr…You’re going to pay for that, Ssspider-Man. In good time…In good time…”
Spider-Man had to lean against a wall to regain his composure. “What…do you want?” he asked.
“One of my offspring isss about to have a child of their own…and they plan to kill it,” Venom replied.
What?! There’s MORE of him? Perfect. Just perfect. The last thing this city needs is more Venoms running around—
“Ssspider-Man!” Venom roared. “Are you lissstening?”
“Oh, uh, yeah. Why does it want to kill its offspring?”
Venom growled. This was obviously a touchy subject for him. “Becaussse, thisss will be the thousssandth sssymbiote in our line. It will be ssstronger than any other sssymbiote. My offspring plansss to kill it immediately after it’sss born—out of fear, out of jealousssy, out of hatred.”
Spider-Man had to think for a moment. “Why are you telling me this? What’s this ‘proposal’?”
Venom growled again, this time with more anger. He turned away from the webbed wonder. “I tried…reasssoning with my offspring, but he was so…so angry. He attacked me and left me there to let my wounds heal.” Venom looked at Spider-Man. “I’m here to propossse a temporary—a very temporary—alliance. I need your help. A sssymbiote should never kill itsss offspring.”
Spider-Man looked right back at Venom. “What if I say no?”
“Then I will kill you right where you ssstand.”
Spider-Man was shaken to his core. Venom’s words were cold, unfeeling, and heartless. He was being dead serious. Worst of all, Spider-Man knew Venom could—and would—kill him with ease. The monster stood up straight and walked over to the teenager. He towered over Spider-Man. He cast a huge shadow over him, surrounding him in darkness.
“Okay! Okay. Fine. I’ll help you,” Spider-Man conceded.
“Excccelent,” Venom hissed before backing away. “We leave immediately.”
Meanwhile…
Patrick Mulligan sat alone at his table in a fancy restaurant, looking around anxiously. He was wearing a suit with a red tie dangling under his neck. His dark hair was a mess, but his face was cleanly shaven. His hand fidgeted with each other under the table. If he had waited any longer, he would’ve had a panic attack. He took a deep breath and decided to do what all detectives do: observe. He scoped the restaurant around him.
Violin music playing, six small chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, dark green carpet on the floor, sand-colored walls, five waiters, two waitresses—
Patrick spotted a fit, young woman strutting towards him. She was wearing a tight dark blue dress that stopped at the middle of her thighs, and she had long, dark blond hair cascading down the side of her head. She looked at Patrick with her hazel eyes, shaking him to his core.
—and my girlfriend.
Patrick nearly tripped over himself as he scrambled to stand up to greet her. He pulled her chair out for her and gestured for her to sit down. She gave him a grateful smile before she did. He stood there for a second, looking at her, forgetting they were even in a restaurant.
“Are you gonna sit down, Pat?” his girlfiend asked, snapping him out of his daze.
“Huh? Oh! Yeah. Yeah, of course.” Patrick scrambled back to his own chair and quickly sat down.
His girlfriend looked both confused and amused. “Are you okay, Pat? You’re not even thirty, but you look like you’re fifty.”
“I’m just…nervous, Gina,” he explained. “Did…Did you find this place okay?”
“Yep. It’s not easy to miss a big, fancy restaurant. And don’t be nervous, Pat. This is really nice.”
A waiter stopped by and poured to glasses of champagne for the couple, then briskly walked away.
“Are you liking your new job?” Gina asked, taking a sip from her glass.
“The detective job? Oh, I love it. Pays great. The hours can get a little long, though.”
“Mmm-hm,” said Gina, tracing her finger around the rim of her glass. “We haven’t seen each other as much since you started.”
Patrick felt like the moment was coming. He reached into his pocket to make sure it was still there. It was. The little gift box was still in there, holding a beautiful wedding ring. He had to compose himself for this one.
He reached across the small table and gently grasped her hand. “These past two years have been amazing,” he said. “When I first moved to this town, I couldn’t tell right from left. Then I met you. You…You were always there to support me. You helped me through the bad times. When my pa died, you were there for me.”
“Oh my god…Pat…”
“I love you so much, Gina. So, I have to ask you one thing…”
Patrick Mulligan left his chair and knelt down right beside Gina. Everything around them got quiet. The violinists stopped playing, and the waiters & waitresses froze in their tracks. Everyone watched as Patrick said, “Gina…Will you marry me?” He took the little box out of his pocket and opened it before her, revealing the sparkling ring.
Gina’s eye makeup ran down her cheeks as she cried in what Patrick hoped was happiness. She didn’t say anything at first. She just sobbed. The employees, violinists, and diners anxiously waited for her answer.
“Yes!” Gina exclaimed. She got down to the floor with Patrick, grabbed his head, and gave him a big kiss. The restaurant exploded in cheerful applause.
At that moment, Patrick felt like the luckiest man to ever live.
Later…
I can’t believe I’m doing this. I’m getting NOTHING out of this. Here I am with Venom—one of scariest things I’ve ever seen—going to stop his son from killing HIS son. Or daughter. I have no idea how to differentiate a male symbiote from a female symbiote. If Venom was a good guy, I’d ask him so many questions, like why symbiotes reproduce asexually, or why they need hosts. Except for one thing: Venom is NOT a good guy. If I make one wrong move, he’ll kill me.
Spider-Man and Venom were swinging through the city, looking for Venom’s offspring. Spider-Man made sure that he could see Venom at all times. The last thing he wanted was be caught off guard by a backstab…metaphorically speaking, of course. It was nearly midnight when the two stopped in the middle of an empty street.
“This is hopeless,” Spider-Man said. “We just can’t find him. Why did we stop here anyway?”
“He’sss here…” Venom said starkly. “I can sssmell him.”
“You can?! Where? Where is he?”
“Right in front of usssss.”
Spider-Man followed Venom’s eyes and spotted a man standing in the middle of the street. He was grinning menacingly from ear to ear and staring at them with cold eyes. His hair was short and red. His skin was pale. He was wearing a Hawaiian button-down shirt with unmatching athletic shorts.
“Th…that guy?” whispered to Venom. “Are…Are you sure?”
“I can hear you!” the man yelled. His voice sounded just like Venom’s—coarse, monstrous, and bloodcurdling. “Lookin’ for me?!”
Spider-Man watched in horror as stringy red goo appeared out of nowhere and consumed the man. “W…what’s…”
“That, Ssspider-Man,” said Venom, “isss my offspring.”
“Oh my god…”
Spider-Man could see a figure through all the red goo. It looked a lot like Venom, but was red, skinnier, and downright scarier.
“Cletus Kasady has graciously given himself to me!” the red monster screeched. “He’s gone now! Heh heh! There is only…Carnage!”