Arc One. Chapter Ten. Enemies In High Places

Peter was stoked about this, it was the first time that he'd be going out as the Venom and his whole body tingled with excitement.

He felt the alien liquid inside him bubble up and even as his vision darkened it suddenly sprang into a new life. The thick black viscous coating covered his whole body with an extra layer of muscle and he could even tell he had grown an extra eleven or twelve inches. His new symbiotic skin, or just the symbskin as he called it, felt warm around him. He knew it was coming from somewhere in his body, he had just no idea where, and it felt fleshy but tough. It coated him completely, and even though it was a full-body suit, Peter felt no different. He could still breathe and his senses felt sharper than when he was without it. Lights seemed brighter and he could hear the girls talking and making deals across the street from where he was standing.

He flexed first, getting used to being the Venom again and then whipping a line out hoisted himself up on the walkways that lined the upper floor of the warehouse.

His first job of the evening, while it was boring, was to check the antenna array he had built from old satellite receivers and tv aerials on the roof, and this was the fastest way. Peter wanted to keep his activities as Venom a secret and was building a secure faraday cage around the warehouse. So that everyone still had internet and cable he had constructed a receiver array from broken electronics taken from the junkyard. Soldering and rewiring it, it just needed to be secured to the warehouse roof.

His thicker frame made carrying the dish up this high easy, and after setting it in place, his hand tightening around the bolts, moulding his symbskin into the shape of a wrench. His eyes, although covered, could see as if the skin was more a part of his own body than a coating and the light summer breeze felt good on what was now his skin. Trying his best not to think about being naked, he soon got all the wiring hooked up and once he added in power the warehouse would not only have TV but wireless internet that would be strong no matter where you were in the building. If he needed a wired connection he could set them up here and run a cable to anywhere he needed.

"Haaaa," the huge Venom creature exhaled, he had found that Venom could create a mouth but it was a jutting gagged maw filled with nightmarish teeth, so he opted to keep the suit sealed completely. Being honest with himself the black was a little goth for his taste, and he probably would have gone for red, white and blue but free superpowers were free superpowers. His fashion sense wouldn't be complaining if he had to make the suit himself. He could extrude and retract the black skin on command, forming and dissolving instantly, and making shapes had been easy, but it wouldn't change colour, it was always black. The only modification he had been able to make was a white spider design on his chest and he felt that was only as it was right. It wasn't a conscious thought, it had just felt right.

With his work done he decided to venture out into the city. A lot of places in Midtown were off-limits, even to young men, muggers not caring about gender anymore in the age of equality, and Venom headed into the seedier parts of town. He was going to avoid Hell's Kitchen, for now. The place claimed the lives of a lot of people and in reputation, Peter knew he could be seriously hurt or worse, even if he did have powers.

It wasn't long before he could hear shouts of terror and whoops of joy, a mugging. Some drunk frat girl had taken a wrong turn into an alley and found herself at knifepoint. Venom shot a web onto a nearby water tower and leapt, swinging down the alley and launching himself into the mugger. His feet connected with the midriff of the mugger and he went flying

"You shouldn't be here, ma'am. Club Acapulco is that way," he pointed and with a tear-streaked face she took off running.

"Now now now though, what do we have here. Someone forgot it was garbage day and left this in the alley."

The mugger had shaken himself off and was pointing his knife at Venom now, "Hey, I don't want no beef alright, the girls gone, no harm no foul huh?"

"No harm no foul? NO HARM NO FOUL!" Venom's anger rose and he slammed a fist past the upheld knife, into the ribs of the man, "No harm no foul" he repeated over and over with each strike.

The mugger could only cough up blood as the huge monster pounded his ribcage. Venom, however, was reliving the worst days of his life. A woman's scream, and the sound of bones breaking, his uncle's killer walked free, a new school where the first person to talk to him, an unknown Flash, grabs and twists his wrist, telling him to stay away from her. Each bully, every shock, each time he was told "be quiet, don't complain, just take it," surfaced in his mind as his rage finally bubbled over. His fists moved on their own, but as the red rage cleared Venom looked down at what he had done.

Venom watched the mugger collapse in front of him, his breathing was as ragged as his own. His hands were shaking as he looked at the man's chest, barely moving. He hadn't meant to lose control, punish yes but not cripple. He searched the man's coat and found a wad of bills and a phone. The man had been smart enough to lose the wallets and purses of his victims and not to carry his own ID, but a phone was untraceable. Venom held the phone with two hands as he hit the emergency call button on the lock screen

"911, what is your emergency?"

Venom's voice cracked as he spoke, "Uh yeah I found a guy at 6th and Walker, he's hurt really bad, uh, I got his phone and, help, please send help." Venom was still in shock as to what he had done, he dropped the phone, the tinny voice of the operator still questioning him, and zipping a line to the roof of another building, leapt and began to climb.

He waited for what seemed an eternity until the ambulance arrived followed by a police car. The mugger's chest was a mess of bruises and he even saw small fragments poking out of his skin. Venom felt sick, he hadn't meant to hurt him that bad, he hadn't meant to lose it that badly. He balled his fists and he realised he still had the wad of cash in one hand. It was about 600 dollars in tens and twenties, whoever the man was had gotten a good haul and his victims were now worse off for having met him. Of course, the man wasn't Uncle Ben's killer, but he'd echoed him, making himself a target of Venom's rage.

Peter let the black skin peel back to reveal the boy underneath, he'd lost control and it'd been happening a lot recently. His emotions spiked when he used his powers, his anger at Flash bubbling over into rage and Jack Thompson's car receiving a new piercing. Peter stared at the city, it was beautiful in the dark, the street lights twinkled under the rising heat, steam billowing into the cold spring night. As the black skin retracted and Peter was left sitting up there he felt the anger drain from him. In the dark, sat on an overhang, Peter took breaths, trying to calm himself after the fight. As his hands finally stopped shaking he was left wondering if his powers were affecting his mood, was the rage a side effect?

Did he care though? Was his rage a bad thing, he'd lost his temper once, at some scum bag who'd deprived his victims of $600 and traumatised them for life. Had he lost it at Gwen? no, or Aunt May? no, nobody he cared about, nobody he loved had felt his anger, in fact, he did love them. His chest ached when he thought about Gwen being hurt, not just his hate, his love too, every nerve was alive with sensation and Peter loved it. He wasn't some loser punk kid, crying when bullied anymore, he was Venom, he was vengeance, he was going to make this city and everyone who wronged him pay.

Venom needed to make sure he didn't kill. That would bring cops, no cops, they were useless anyway, the girl he was chasing had run away, no witnesses to say what he had been doing. It was corrupt, it was wrong and Venom knew he was going to make it right again. Making a pouch in his symbskin, Venom stowed the cash and searching for a higher vantage point, he threw out a web line and swung away into the darkness. There were more crimes to stop, more muggers who needed to be reminded that they weren't the top of the food chain, and most importantly, needed to be told that the streets were no longer safe for their kind.

As he hunted, muggers and scumbags discovered that a new predator hunted the city. By the end of the night, Venom stopped four muggings and made off with over $2000 in cash. The last mugger, blubbering and crying as Venom stood over him kept repeating "what the fuck are you man?" over and over, and having a small grin to himself,

Beware the Venom was sprayed onto the sidewalk where he left the man webbed up, using the burner phone he was carrying to phone the police.

Across town, in a cramped and messy junkyard, a man hesitated outside the office of his boss, wary to give him the news he knew was going to upset him. Taking a breath he knocked and then entered,

Max had been with Alexsi since the beginning. He started hotwiring cars while Alexsi drove and now he was second in command. It was just his shitty job tonight to bring Alexsi the bad news.

"So, boss, we got trouble." Max stood in front of Alexsi's desk, "it seems we got hit 2 times last night, and Marko got whacked by some big black guy. Johnny got pinched holding up a store and Freddy got made selling drugs on 9th. Three guys, three different assholes, but get this boss. One was dressed up like a cat, one was all in tight red and blue spandex, and well Marko just kept talking about some big black guy, but he's on loopy juice right now so it might all be crap yah know."

Alexsi rubbed his face, "you sure? Three, those three especially all got hit? Shit." He threw the pen he'd been using onto his office desk, "so what's the deal with Marko? If the other two are in jail, why's he free?"

"Uh, he says the guy stopped him getting the target and then wailed on him, man his ribs are all messed up," Max looked over at his boss, "he ain't doin nothin' for months. Our guys lifted him before the cops got him at the hospital, but he ain't lookin so good."

Alexsi clenched his fists, "fuck" he spat, "we are this close the getting the heist settled and Marko gets hurt, and the others get pinched." Reaching into a desk drawer, "give Marko this," he pulled out a vial of pale blue liquid, and the other man frowned,

"you uh sure boss? that's your last one and I mean, Marko he ain't exactly the best crew guy we got".

"Yeah yeah, tell him his daughter will be safe if and I mean if he does this, now get, tell me what happens though eh."

The container Alexsi had was now empty, the three vials having all been used by him and Max, although if Marko gained anything near what he and the others had, nothing would stop them next week, not even some huge black guy.