“It hurts like hell!”
Wade clutched the gruesome wound in his side with one hand.
Riot was holding Wade’s kidney in its hand.
Its scarlet tongue licked the blood from it before it swallowed the organ in one gulp.
Its voice suddenly became louder, and its speech much more fluent.
The symbiote’s astonishing ability to learn languages had already allowed it to gain a basic understanding of human speech.
“That was delicious!
Hahahaha!
Your body is mine!”
Wade’s face turned ashen.
This thing is seriously twisted.
It wanted his body?
At first glance, gaining power from a symbiote might seem wonderful.
But the influence these creatures had over their hosts was far too strong.
They amplified various aspects of their hosts, sometimes even causing them to lose their rationality.
And someone as evil as Riot had an obvious weakness.
In a Marvel Universe filled with superheroes, a creature like this was bound to meet a miserable end sooner or later.
Just imagining what he might become made Wade shudder.
Absolutely not.
And besides…
Give me my kidney back!
Wade gritted his teeth.
The pain in his side forced his mind to become even more focused.
Think.
What are symbiotes weak against?
High-frequency sounds?
Vibrations?
Or extremely high temperatures?
But he was just an ordinary human.
How was he supposed to produce either of those?
Riot stomped toward Wade with heavy steps before effortlessly lifting him off the ground.
“Although you rejected me once, I can sense that you’re different from other lifeforms!”
Wade struggled to breathe as Riot’s hand tightened around his neck.
His legs kicked helplessly in midair while both hands desperately tried to pry Riot’s fingers away.
It was useless.
Riot’s scarlet tongue still carried traces of blood as it slowly dragged across Wade’s face.
It seemed to be savoring his scent.
“What incredible vitality.
With this, I’ll definitely be able to recover to my perfect state.”
As it spoke, Riot’s mouth began to open.
Wider.
And wider.
Until it stretched to more than a meter across.
Inside was nothing but a dark, bottomless void.
Wade couldn’t even begin to understand what kind of structure lay within it.
“Come on.”
“Now, become my body!”
The enormous mouth moved closer.
Riot intended to swallow Wade whole.
The strange, bloody stench assaulted his senses, stimulating every nerve in his body.
Get away from me!
Without Wade realizing it, a faint light appeared in his pupils.
His black eyes gradually became hazy, resembling a tranquil summer night sky filled with stars.
It had nothing to do with faith.
Nothing to do with determination.
It was simply the instinctive desire to survive burning within Wade’s heart.
In an instant, he once again saw the scene from his dream.
The “Wade” standing within the galaxy seemed closer this time.
He still didn’t speak.
But this time, the vision didn’t immediately disappear.
The figure called Wade raised a hand.
A meteor streaking through the sky was plucked from its path.
Then he casually opened his palm.
The meteor flew straight toward Wade.
It grew closer and closer.
Just as it was about to smash into his face, it suddenly exploded into countless points of starlight.
“That burning sensation…”
“It feels exactly like when I was healed!”
“No…
it’s even stronger!”
Wade returned to reality.
He hadn’t noticed that the kidney Riot had ripped from his body was already rapidly regenerating.
The wound closed at an astonishing rate, while the internal organ itself quickly began rebuilding.
“Hm?”
Riot was confused when Wade suddenly stopped struggling.
“Have you given up?”
“No…”
Wade gently placed one hand against Riot’s wrist.
An intense, searing heat immediately made the symbiote recoil.
“Hot!”
Riot suddenly remembered hiding inside the core of the meteorite, trembling in fear as it desperately tried to escape the heat.
The friction between the meteorite and Earth’s atmosphere had been terrifying.
The extreme temperature was still deeply etched into its memory.
“Get away from me!”
Wade’s comparatively small hand suddenly exerted tremendous force.
His fingers sank directly into Riot’s wrist.
A charred smell filled the air.
Then Wade tightened his grip.
Crack!
Riot’s wrist was crushed.
Riot recoiled in pain.
“You can damage my body?!”
Wade stood barefoot on the floor.
He clenched his fist.
As his fingers flexed, a sharp sonic boom erupted from his hand.
The power that had remained dormant inside his body for twelve years had finally awakened.
Wade looked at Riot and spoke softly.
“Looks like I really am a mutant.”
“And I suppose I should thank you.”
“You woke up the power that had been sleeping inside me for twelve years.”
Riot’s enormous mouth slowly returned to its normal shape.
Its broken wrist regenerated almost instantly.
“Filthy creature!”
Riot roared.
Both of its arms twisted and transformed into enormous silver claws.
“I only need to leave your head intact!”
With that, both claws came crashing down toward Wade’s neck.
It intended to decapitate him in one strike.
“What an incredible feeling.”
Wade’s eyes widened.
For some reason, Riot’s movements had suddenly become incredibly clear in his vision.
It was as though everything had been slowed down.
So Wade simply took one step forward.
He slipped into the gap between Riot’s arms and chest.
At the same time, he clenched his right fist.
The surging power inside his body desperately needed an outlet.
“Get the hell away from me!”
A faint light wrapped around Wade’s fist.
The remains of his hospital gown completely exploded apart.
His seemingly slender fist slammed directly into Riot’s abdomen.
Riot’s silver eyes widened.
It couldn’t even perceive the attack.
It was like a brilliant meteor streaking across the sky, carrying overwhelming speed and power as it crashed into its target.
In Riot’s eyes, it was as though Wade’s body itself contained the power of a meteor.
The force of Wade’s punch spread evenly throughout Riot’s body.
The silver symbiote twisted violently.
Then—
Boom!
Its entire body exploded, breaking apart into particles so tiny they were almost impossible to see.
Yet the nurse who had been hosting it remained completely unharmed.
She simply collapsed onto the floor.
“Phew…
Is it over?”
Wade looked at the Riot that had seemingly been blasted into dust and let out a long breath.
Damn.
That was exhausting.
But Riot’s vitality was astonishing.
The shattered fragments were already beginning to gather together.
“It didn’t die?”
Wade’s eyes widened.
An inexplicable surge of anger rose inside him.
“Are you kidding me?!
I finally beat you into this state, so could you please just stay down?!”
Then he remembered something.
Not long ago, Charles had used his telepathic abilities on him.
If what Charles had said was true…
Could Wade reproduce what had happened before?
Riot had most likely arrived alongside the meteorite.
He still didn’t know whether summoning another meteorite would bring some unforeseen danger.
But whatever the risk was, it had to be better than standing here like an idiot and watching Riot regenerate.
Meanwhile, Charles was rushing toward the room.
He was nearly terrified out of his mind.
Because through his telepathy, he could clearly sense the sudden change in Wade’s psychic power.
And the celestial bodies were responding to him.
High above the hospital, a meteorite approximately half a meter in diameter streaked across the daytime sky.
It was descending at a speed of several dozen kilometers per second.
And its trajectory was astonishingly precise.
Its target was the very room where Wade stood.
Riot, whose body had yet to fully reform, stared in horror at the meteorite rapidly approaching through the window.
It really works!
Holy shit.
“Take this!”
“A little divine justice from above!”