Chapter 61: Birthday Song - Part 8

Di—

Eh—

Wake—

Wake up—

Eddie! Wake up!!

『EDDIE!!!』

“Uwah!?”

I jolted upright and looked around.

It was my apartment in New York City.

My place.

I’d been sleeping on the couch, and I grumbled at my partner.

“Hah… What the hell? Don’t scare me like that!”

『Turn on the TV, now!』

“Huh…? Didn’t we binge-watch enough daytime dramas already?”

Despite how he looks, Venom is oddly into those daytime romance dramas.

Did he wake me up for that…?

『No! Never mind, I’ll do it! Hand me the remote!』

“W-wait! Stop! Don’t break it!”

Panicked, I grabbed the remote and turned on the TV.

『—live coverage. The chaos at Ryker’s Prison has yet to be contained.』

I was instantly wide awake.

My eyes locked on the screen.

Broken concrete walls.

Human-shaped lumps covered with blue tarps.

…Bodies.

…What the hell happened?

Sensing a scoop, I leaned closer to the TV—

『The escaped death row inmate, Cletus Kasady, is still at large. It’s believed he may be hiding somewhere in New York City, and citizens are advised to stay indoors—』

“…What did you say?”

Cletus Kasady caused this?

How?

He didn’t have any kind of superpowers.

If he had, he wouldn’t have ended up in Ryker’s to begin with.

“H-hey, Venom! What the hell is this?!”

『He… probably bonded with my blood. It shouldn’t be possible…! The compatibility was too perfect!』

I ran back through my memories.

…Yeah. He did bite me, once.

That’s it.

Just that…?

“W-was it my fault?”

『Eddie, it’s our fault.』

“That’s… that’s insane…”

My knees gave out, and I collapsed onto the couch.

Held my head in my hands.

Sure, I’ve killed people working with Venom.

But it’s not like I want to hurt innocent people.

We only go after bad guys.

That’s the one promise we’ve always stuck to.

Venom never sticks to watching just three hours of TV a day, and he never stops talking to me in public.

But that one rule—he’s kept it.

Venom, the violent, selfish brute that he is.

But this…

『Eddie, stop moping! Do what needs to be done!』

“W-what needs to be done?”

『Find Cletus Kasady—and kill him! Don’t waste time thinking! We’ve gotta stop him before anyone else gets hurt! It’s on us to end this!』

I nodded at Venom’s words.

At times like this, his bluntness—his simplicity—can be a relief.

“…Yeah! Yeah, you’re right!”

『That’s right! What are we?! Say it!』

At his words, I slapped my cheeks and stood up.

“We are—”

『We are—』

I took a step forward, threw on my coat.

“We’re Venom.”

『The Lethal Protector!』

I slipped and nearly fell at the front door.

Barely caught myself by grabbing the shoe rack.

『Eddie!?』

“Why are you the one freaking out!? You’re getting way too into this TV crap!”

『But it sounds cool, doesn’t it?!』

“Why do we never sync up…? Agh, dammit.”

I opened the apartment door and stepped outside.

Headed straight up the stairs to the rooftop.

I deepened my sync with Venom, and black, tar-like muscle wrapped around my body.

There stood a hulking black monster.

We were Venom.

“So… can you sense where he is?”

『Of course! He was a part of me once! And he’s probably still bonded now… I can feel him with the hypersense we stole from that spider punk!』

I raised my head and scanned the surroundings.

『………………Huh?』

“Hey, what’s wrong?”

Hearing the confused voice in my head, I asked.

『It’s a 7…』

“Seven? Seven what…?”

『At least seven of them are hiding somewhere in New York!』

“Wait, what do you mean, seven of what!? Don’t tell me—”

I imagined the worst-case scenario—and was left speechless.

『That’s right! Seven of my offspring—symbiotes born from me—are on the loose! Cletus Kasady isn’t the only enemy now!』

“Wha… haah!? Why the hell!?”

『How should I know!?』

Venom lashed out in frustration.

A hole burst through the brick wall.

…Ah, right. This is the apartment we live in.

“Wh-what do we do now?”

『Eddie, isn’t it obvious!?』

A tearing sensation ran across my cheek.

…If I looked in the mirror, I bet my face would look downright feral.

Then, Venom opened his mouth—and said:

In a corner of New York—Hell’s Kitchen.

A towering skyscraper.

Its white walls didn’t suit a rough neighborhood like Hell’s Kitchen.

It stood as a symbol of wealth and power.

A true king’s castle.

Even the polished exterior exuded a kind of dignity—like an expensive porcelain vase.

Yet beneath that pristine white surface… something immense and evil lurked.

And I was there—on the top floor of that skyscraper.

Sitting before me was a massive, bald man at a desk.

Dressed in a crisp white suit, gripping a cane.

With his free hand, he tapped the desk impatiently.

“So… what are you saying? The ‘Foundation’ has dispatched forces into the city to secure these newly born parasites?”

“Yes. We just received word from the informant we placed inside the Foundation.”

Veins bulged at his temple.

He was furious—but still thinking logically.

“So we’ve got a serial killer and human-eating monsters running rampant in New York… is that it?”

“Yes. Five confirmed symbiotes have entered the city.”

Crack. The desk groaned under the pressure.

“The Foundation intends to turn this city into their testing ground without my permission…? James, what do you think about that?”

“...Yes. I believe they’re attempting to capture the symbiote currently bonded with Cletus Kasady. At the same time, they plan to conduct live field trials of their own symbiote-enhanced soldiers.”

“I see… so your thinking mostly aligns with mine…”

Snap. The reinforced plastic desk split apart.

“James, who is the king of this city…? Those disgusting parasites? Or some puny pharmaceutical company?”

“No, sir. Of course not. It’s you.”

“That’s right! This city belongs to me—”

The desk fully shattered, cracking clean in half.

“—belongs to Wilson Fisk…! And yet… they defiled my city… without my permission…! They’re wrong! Fools, all of them!”

“Yes. Utter fools.”

I agreed and gave a nod.

This wasn’t the first time I’d seen Lord Fisk—Kingpin—throw a tantrum.

Far from it. I’d seen it more times than I could count on both hands.

But I was never afraid.

No matter how enraged he gets, he remains rational… and never crosses the worst line.

He wouldn’t discard a useful subordinate like me.

“James. Dispatch an assassin. Right now. Yes… yes, of course—send the red one! Make sure the target is dead!”

“...My apologies. ‘Redcap’ is currently recuperating.”

“What…?”

“According to his organization, during his last mission—targeting Quentin Beck—he engaged with several enhanced individuals. He’ll require at least two months of recovery.”

Lord Fisk frowned… then nodded.

“It can’t be helped. Damn vigilantes… Then who can we move now? Who’s available?”

“In that case… how about this man?”

I pulled up a profile on the tablet in my hand and showed it to Lord Fisk.

“...Hmph. Very well. Pay him whatever he asks. I leave the negotiation to you.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“Teach them a lesson. Show them what happens to those who defile my city.”

I nodded at Lord Fisk’s words.

“Yes. We’ll make those fools understand.”

“Yes, that’s right…! Anyone who defies me—”

I stood overlooking the city.

No one was walking the streets.

…Of course not.

Everyone knew a serial killer had broken out of prison and was on the loose here.

Anyone with a sense of self-preservation would be curled up at home, paralyzed with fear.

But I knew—my friends wouldn’t be.

Beneath my pitch-black mask, I narrowed my eyes.

Tinkerer’s jet-black spare suit… Nightcap… blended seamlessly into the night.

In this darkness, visual detection would be extremely difficult.

The time was past 11 p.m.

Darkness had completely swallowed New York.

As if pure evil itself were cloaking the city.

This world is filled with scum.

Criminals who wouldn’t hesitate to murder if it satisfied their selfish greed.

And yes—that includes me.

I pulled a knife from my calf and checked it.

Checked the action of the shotgun strapped to my lower back.

Ran a diagnostic on the mask.

Checked the movement of each suit component.

…No problems.

It’s not that I doubt Tinkerer’s craftsmanship.

But even the smallest flaw can mean death.

That’s how it is when you fight to kill.

Rain began to fall, drop by drop.

My mask grew wet, beads trailing down from my chin.

The clouds had swallowed even the moon, leaving only the streetlights to illuminate the city.

Peter, Gwen, Ned…

The scum that threatens my friends—

I will kill them.

『That’s right. They—』

『Kasady… others like me are gathering in this city.』

“You mean… ones like you and Carnage?”

『Exactly… symbiotes like me.』

I gave a casual shrug.

At my feet, deep red blood flowed.

Rain washed it away, carrying it down into the sewers.

A headless corpse.

A body Carnage had devoured.

…Carnage is a creature called a symbiote.

They feed primarily on human brains.

That’s why they seem to have no interest in anything below the neck.

“Well, that’s a problem. Our goal is to kill Eddie Brock, isn’t it?”

『Yeah, that’s right. I’ll devour my father—Father—and obtain even greater power.』

“…I see. So, patricide. Don’t you feel any guilt about that?”

I asked Carnage.

『We don’t possess emotions like that.』

“…What a coincidence. Neither do I.”

The first person I killed was my grandmother.

Then my mother’s beloved dog.

I never felt the slightest hint of guilt for killing my family.

In that sense, I get along quite well with Carnage.

『Still, if more symbiotes are gathering besides him, that works out just fine. They’re nothing more than fodder—for me to grow stronger.』

“Hm? But are you sure you can win? You were only just born, weren’t you?”

『That doesn’t matter. We symbiotes don’t measure strength by how long we’ve lived. The only thing to worry about is going too far.』

Carnage let out a twisted laugh.

『Kasady—your bloodlust, your malice, your spite, your hatred… all of it fuels us symbiotes. …The host of Father is a coward. He even tries to avoid killing. Their bond level is likely quite low.』

“I see.”

『Kasady, I’ll create the world of blood and chaos you desire… and anyone who gets in the way of that—』

Carnage’s cheeks split open, revealing a long, slithering tongue.

『“We’ll slaughter them all.”』

And so, in the night-shrouded city of New York, hatred and bloodlust began to swirl.