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Evan’s second ability was air-walking.
He did not know why it worked.
He simply felt light, as if gravity had loosened its grip on him.
He could step on open air and move as naturally as if there were ground beneath his feet.
It was strange.
It was also incredible.
“Whoa.”
Evan stretched both arms out and took one careful step after another, like a kid crossing a balance beam for the first time.
He tested the air.
Studied the pressure under his feet.
Learned the limits of the invisible path.
Flight was one of humanity’s oldest dreams.
This was not exactly flying, but it was close enough to make him laugh.
“This is better than wall-crawling.”
He sounded like a child.
In a way, he almost was.
After the latest evolution, Evan looked eight or nine years old.
His face still carried traces of who he had been, but no casual observer would connect the child on the water to the teenager from before.
His skin had changed too, becoming unnaturally smooth and pale, almost luminous in the dawn.
Even his voice had softened, pulled back toward a preteen pitch.
Living backward was disturbing.
Evan chose not to care.
Power mattered more than what he looked like.
He walked across the air for a while, then lowered himself toward the water.
One foot touched the surface.
Ripples spread.
He stayed standing.
“Oh, that’s fun.”
He put both feet down and began running across the sea.
For nearly an hour, he played with the ability like a kid who had found a secret cheat code in reality.
Only when he returned to the yacht did Venom speak.
“Are you done playing?
My turn.”
Black covered him.
In an instant, Evan became Venom.
The change was obvious.
Venom had been around seven feet tall before.
Now he stood closer to eight.
The slick black surface of his body had begun to form subtle scale-like ridges.
They were faint, visible mostly to Evan through their shared senses, but they were there.
“You evolved too?”
“Yes,” Venom said, delighted.
“My physical strength doubled.
And I gained something new.”
“Show me.”
Venom grinned with all those white teeth.
“Watch.”
Something cracked behind his shoulders.
Two black wings burst from his back.
They were not huge compared to Hothead, but on Venom’s frame they looked brutal.
Muscular, leathery, and wrong in exactly the right way.
“Can you fly?”
“Yes.”
Venom beat the wings once.
He shot straight up more than a hundred yards.
Fast.
Very fast.
“My evolution is built on yours,” Venom said, hovering above the ocean.
“You’re my host.
The stronger you become, the stronger I become.
Right now, I think I could face a symbiote army and enjoy it.”
Evan had evolved.
Venom had evolved.
Together, they had crossed a new threshold.
Against a hundred, a thousand, maybe even more, Evan no longer felt afraid.
“Good,” he said.
“Very good.”
Neither of them noticed the private boat passing in the distance.
On its deck, a young couple stood frozen with a phone in hand.
The video on the screen showed a child walking through the air, running across the water, then transforming into Venom as black wings burst from his back.
“Devil,” the man whispered.
They had come out for a romantic sunrise.
Instead, they recorded a monster.
Hands shaking, they uploaded the video.
Within minutes, the internet caught fire.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter.