Leon thought about Venom’s question for a moment.
His increasing strength clearly had something to do with his unusual mental power.
That much seemed obvious.
What Leon couldn’t understand was the mechanism behind it.
Venom waited approximately three seconds before losing patience.
“All right, I’ll explain.” Leon glanced at him.
Venom’s enormous white eyes brightened.
“What’s happening to you is the result of your subconscious interacting with my abilities.” Leon listened carefully.
“A symbiote naturally enhances its host,” Venom continued.
“Strength, speed, durability, physical condition—the whole package.” A tendril rose beside its head.
“And with certain special hosts, I can do even more.” “Such as?” “Copy abilities.” Leon narrowed his eyes slightly.
Venom grinned.
“When I bond with someone who has unusual biological abilities, I can retain parts of them.” Peter Parker immediately came to mind.
Venom nodded as if sensing the thought.
“Exactly.” It sounded increasingly pleased with itself.
“Because I bonded with Spider-Man, I can give my current host access to his physical abilities.” Venom stretched dramatically.
“Strength.
Agility.
Wall-crawling.
Enhanced reflexes.
Webbing.
The whole Spider-Man package.” Leon stared at him.
“And you’re saying I can use all of that?” “More than that.” Venom’s grin widened.
“With me, the host can potentially perform even better than Spider-Man himself.” Leon remained skeptical.
Venom ignored the look.
“Before I met you, though, all of that depended on the symbiotic bond.” It tapped Leon lightly on the shoulder.
“I enhance the host while we’re together.” “If we separate, the enhancement disappears.” Leon nodded slowly.
That made sense.
Peter Parker had been stronger while bonded with Venom, but the extra enhancement hadn’t permanently become part of Peter’s body.
Venom leaned closer.
“But you’re different.” The excitement in its voice returned immediately.
“Very different.” Leon folded his arms.
“Because of my mind.” “Because of your ridiculous mind.” Venom corrected him.
“Normally, your subconscious couldn’t just decide to improve your body and magically make it happen.” Leon raised an eyebrow.
“Obviously.” “But then I came along.” Venom pointed proudly at itself.
“Your subconscious recognized me as something foreign.” “A threat?” “Initially?
Absolutely.” Venom didn’t sound offended.
“That’s why it restricted me so aggressively.” Leon remembered everything he’d seen in Venom’s memories.
The blocked feeding.
The failed communication.
The inability to leave.
“So how does that make me stronger?” “Because your subconscious has access to me now.” Venom’s voice became more animated.
“It can’t directly rebuild your body by itself.” “But it can influence my abilities.” Leon became still.
Venom continued.
“Your subconscious detected something powerful living inside you and basically decided your body wasn’t strong enough.” A tendril pointed toward Leon’s chest.
“So it started using my ability to enhance your physical condition.” “Permanently?” “Gradually.” Venom nodded.
“But yes.” Leon thought back over the last several weeks.
The motorcycle suddenly feeling easier to lift.
His injuries recovering strangely fast.
His increasing appetite.
His body seeming stronger even when Venom wasn’t consciously doing anything.
Venom watched his expression.
“Now you’re getting it.” Leon slowly leaned back.
“So even when you’re not actively enhancing me, my subconscious is using your abilities to improve my baseline body.” “Exactly!” Venom practically shouted the word.
It looked delighted that Leon finally understood.
“And here’s the best part.” Leon had a feeling Venom had been waiting for this.
“The stronger your body becomes, the more powerful I become.” Leon frowned slightly.
Venom began pacing along the edge of the hospital bed using several tendrils like legs.
“A symbiote benefits from a strong host.” “Spider-Man made me stronger because his body was extraordinary.” Venom pointed at Leon.
“So as your physical condition improves, my own abilities improve too.” “And because you become stronger—” “I can enhance you even more.” Leon finished the thought.
Venom stopped.
Its grin slowly widened.
“Now you see it.” Leon did.
And it was absurd.
His subconscious used Venom’s abilities to strengthen his body.
His stronger body enhanced Venom.
A stronger Venom could improve Leon even further.
Which made Leon stronger again.
Then Venom became stronger.
Then Leon.
Then Venom.
An escalating feedback loop.
Leon stared at the symbiote.
“So basically, we’re boosting each other.” “Constantly.” “As long as we’re bonded.” “Yes.” Leon rubbed his forehead.
The whole thing sounded like violating the basic logic of power progression.
The closest analogy he could think of was somehow lifting yourself into the air by pulling upward on your own shoes.
Completely ridiculous.
Except apparently— It worked.
Venom spread its arms dramatically.
“We are perfect for each other.” Leon gave him a flat look.
“That sounds much worse when you say it like that.” “You know what I mean.” Venom was too excited to care.
“As long as we’re together, you’ll keep becoming stronger.” It thumped a tendril against its chest.
“And I’ll keep becoming stronger.” The symbiote’s voice rose.
“You’ll become the strongest human!” Another tendril shot upward.
“I’ll become the strongest symbiote!” Leon watched him.
Venom’s enthusiasm escalated further.
“One day, they’ll know my name across the entire universe!” Leon remained silent.
Venom seemed to imagine cosmic crowds chanting its name.
“Venom.” Its grin spread wider.
“The greatest symbiote in existence.” Leon looked away.
“That’s too far ahead.” Venom stopped.
Leon turned toward the dark hospital window.
“All I care about right now is finding whoever killed Ben.” The excitement vanished from his voice.
His eyes hardened.
“And making them suffer.” The hospital room became quiet.
Leon had thought he’d been given another chance at life.
After dying young in his first life, he’d awakened healthy.
He’d found a home.
A family.
Someone who had loved him without expecting anything in return.
Leon had believed maybe that was enough.
Maybe he could simply live quietly.
Go to college.
Help with the pizzeria.
Build a career.
Spend years listening to Ben complain about everything from newspapers to badly made pizza.
A normal life.
He hadn’t asked for anything more.
Then someone had taken it away.
Leon remembered Ben’s rough voice.
The way he yelled whenever Leon overloaded the motorcycle.
His ridiculous stories.
His cooking.
The way he pretended every act of concern was merely irritation.
The final expression on his face inside the wrecked van.
Live.
Leon swallowed hard.
His eyes began burning again.
He turned his face toward the window before the tears could fall.
Venom felt the grief through their connection.
For once, the symbiote didn’t make another grand speech.
Didn’t brag about becoming the strongest.
Didn’t talk about conquering anything.
It simply rested beside Leon’s shoulder.
When it finally spoke, its voice was quieter than usual.
“They’re going to regret what they did.” Leon didn’t move.
Venom continued.
“I promise.” Leon remained in the hospital for several more days.
His doctors would’ve preferred keeping him under observation longer.
Considering the severity of the crash, his recovery was almost unbelievable.
Broken bones had stabilized far faster than expected.
Internal injuries improved with remarkable speed.
Bruising faded.
His vital signs normalized.
By the time Leon requested discharge, the medical team had very few objective reasons left to force him to stay.
The attending physician reviewed his latest test results several times before finally giving in.
“I still think another few days of observation would be wise.” Leon nodded.
“I understand.” The doctor sighed.
“But medically, you’re stable.” He handed the paperwork over.
“Get plenty of rest.” “I will.” “And don’t immediately go back to your normal routine.” Leon didn’t answer quickly enough.
The doctor gave him a pointed look.
“I mean it.” Leon almost smiled.
“Fine.” “Go somewhere if you need to.
Get some fresh air.
Stay with friends.
Anything that helps.” His expression softened.
“Just don’t push yourself.” Leon thanked him and left.
Returning home was harder than the hospital.
Leon stood inside the front doorway for several seconds without moving.
The house was silent.
Too silent.
Ben wasn’t sitting somewhere reading a newspaper.
No voice yelled from another room asking why Leon had taken so long.
No footsteps.
No complaints.
Nothing.
The emptiness pressed against him.
Leon couldn’t stay.
Not yet.
He grabbed his keys and drove to Old York’s Pizzeria.
The place was packed.
Orders were moving.
Employees hurried between tables, counters, and ovens.
Customers talked over one another.
Everything looked normal.
Almost.
One thing was missing.
No furious old man stood in the kitchen yelling because someone had burned a crust.
No gravelly voice shouted instructions.
No one threatened to deduct a ruined pizza from an employee’s paycheck.
The absence was painfully obvious.
Leon stood near the entrance, watching the staff work.
Ben was everywhere.
And nowhere.
Fortunately, Leon had spent years helping turn the pizzeria into a structured business instead of something dependent entirely on one person.
Recipes were standardized.
Ingredient measurements were documented.
Inventory procedures existed.
Schedules were organized.
The staff knew what they were doing.
The restaurant could continue operating without Leon or Ben standing inside it every day.
Leon only needed to check the accounts periodically, inspect the food quality, and make sure nobody started cutting corners.
He spent several hours handling what needed to be done.
Then there was nowhere else left to go.
Eventually, Leon drove home.
The house still hurt.
Every room held memories.
But it was also still his home.
The last real refuge he had in this world.
Leon couldn’t abandon it forever simply because grief lived there now.
Venom noticed his mood immediately.
And apparently decided silence was unacceptable.
“So.” Leon sat down.
Venom’s head formed beside his shoulder.
“Peter Parker was your classmate, right?” Leon glanced sideways at him.
“Yes.” “You seriously never noticed anything weird about him?” Leon leaned back.
“What exactly was I supposed to notice?” Venom’s grin appeared.
“He’s apparently been running around New York in tights since high school.” Leon thought about Peter.
In his memories, Peter Parker had always seemed like a somewhat awkward academic genius.
Intelligent.
Quiet.
A little distracted.
They hadn’t been especially close.
Still, Leon could remember certain things.
“Hm.” Venom waited.
“We weren’t friends back then.” Leon considered it.
“He didn’t seem particularly unusual.” A pause.
“Although he was late to things constantly.” Venom made an amused noise.
Leon continued.
“I always assumed he overslept.” “Or forgot the time while reading.” Leon glanced toward Venom.
“Now I’m guessing he was swinging around Manhattan dealing with robberies.” Venom burst into laughter.
“Oh, you have no idea.” Leon raised an eyebrow.
“When I was bonded with him, that guy barely had time to eat.” Venom sounded delighted to discuss Peter’s suffering.
“I’d say ninety percent of his lunches were eaten on random rooftops.” “What did he eat?” “Hot dogs.” Venom counted with a tendril.
“Pizza.” Another tendril.
“Sometimes more hot dogs.” Leon almost smiled.
Venom’s grin widened.
“One time he was halfway through a hot dog when somebody started robbing a store below us.” Leon already knew where this was going.
“He left the food?” “Put it on the rooftop and jumped down.” Venom began laughing before finishing.
“He comes back a few minutes later—” Venom slapped a tendril against the table.
“Gone.” Leon pictured Peter returning from stopping a crime and finding an empty wrapper.
“Pigeons?” “Pigeons.” Venom nodded enthusiastically.
“And sparrows.” Leon laughed.
It escaped before he could stop it.
A genuine laugh.
Short.
Quiet.
But real.
Venom noticed immediately.
Its eyes widened slightly.
Then its grin returned.
Leon should’ve recognized the mistake.
Venom had discovered a strategy.
For the next several hours, it proceeded to tell him every embarrassing Peter Parker story it could remember.
Peter landing badly.
Peter losing food.
Peter nearly missing class.
Peter arguing with someone while trying to change clothes somewhere inconvenient.
Some stories were funny.
Others mostly made Leon feel sorry for him.
But that was clearly the point.
Venom kept talking because Leon kept listening.
And for a little while, the house didn’t feel quite as empty.
Night eventually fell.
By then, Leon had finished handling everything that needed his immediate attention.
Now there was something else he’d been waiting for.
He stood in front of the full-length mirror in his room.
Venom stirred beneath his skin.
“You ready?” Leon nodded.
They’d agreed that once night arrived, Leon would finally experience what their full bond could actually do.
“Let’s see it.” Black liquid emerged across his body.
It spread rapidly.
Arms.
Chest.
Legs.
Neck.
Within seconds, the symbiote completely enveloped him.
Leon’s body expanded.
Muscle mass increased dramatically.
His frame stretched upward.
By the time the transformation finished, the figure reflected in the mirror stood well over six and a half feet tall.
Leon stared.
Huge white eyes.
Black skin.
A monstrous mouth filled with rows of sharp teeth.
A long red tongue.
Massive shoulders.
Clawed hands.
The thing in the mirror looked less like a superhero and more like something that crawled out of a nightmare.
Venom sounded extremely pleased.
Leon was considerably less enthusiastic.
He rubbed his forehead.
“If we go outside looking like this…” Venom waited.
Leon studied the monster in the mirror.
“We’re going to be on every government watchlist in the country before breakfast.” Venom’s grin remained.
Leon sighed.
“And then someone’s going to decide the giant alien monster needs to be captured and dissected.” A pause.
“We need to work on the look.” CREATORS’ THOUGHTS SYSTEMATIC_MANIAC Enjoying the novel?
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