The reflection staring back at Leon was enormous.
Venom had expanded his body into a towering, heavily muscled figure, easily over six and a half feet tall.
Two enormous white eyes stretched across the creature’s black face, their shape sharp enough to look almost predatory.
Beneath them was a mouth far too large for anything remotely human.
Rows of jagged teeth filled it.
A long red tongue slid between them like a serpent, while thick strands of saliva glistened beneath the moonlight spilling through the window.
Leon stared at himself for several seconds.
Venom sounded confused.
“You don’t look impressed.” Its voice rumbled from inside him.
Leon raised an eyebrow.
Venom continued enthusiastically.
“Come on.
Look at us.” The reflection grinned.
“We look terrifying.” Its tongue slid across its teeth.
“Anyone who sees us coming will probably lose the will to fight before we even touch them.” Venom laughed loudly.
Leon couldn’t deny that.
If intimidation was the objective, this form was almost perfect.
Unfortunately, intimidation wasn’t the only consideration.
“It definitely has presence.” Venom’s grin widened.
“But?” Leon pointed toward the mirror.
“The second we appear anywhere looking like this, we’re announcing to the entire world that we’re some kind of monster.” Venom’s expression flattened slightly.
“And once that happens, somebody’s going to start asking questions.” Leon began counting on his fingers.
“Police.” “Government agencies.” “Scientists.” “Military.” He paused.
“Possibly all four.” Venom remained silent.
“I’d rather not spend the next several years avoiding people who want to capture us, dissect us, study us, or kill us because they think we’re dangerous.” Venom scoffed.
“I think you’re seriously underestimating us.” Leon looked at the mirror.
“Anyone stupid enough to challenge us can be crushed.” Venom’s voice carried absolute confidence.
“Problem solved.” Leon sighed.
“That attitude is exactly why we need to look less threatening.” Venom grumbled.
Still, after a moment, it conceded.
“Fine.” Leon waited.
“Your reasoning isn’t completely terrible.” “High praise.” “For now, we can be a little more subtle.” Leon nodded.
At least they agreed on the important part.
Venom’s head suddenly emerged from his shoulder, black material flowing upward until the familiar white eyes and toothy grin formed beside him.
“So what do you want?” Leon rubbed his chin and studied their reflection.
“First, reduce the size.” The massive body began shrinking.
“Keep me roughly around my normal height and build.” Venom adjusted the proportions.
“That’ll make moving around easier.
If we ever need the extra mass, we can always increase it again.” “Makes sense.” Leon pointed at the mouth.
“And that needs to go.” Venom looked offended.
“The mouth?” “Yes.” “But it’s excellent.” “It’s horrifying.” “Exactly.” Leon ignored him.
“Cover it completely.
Make the lower half of the face look sealed, like a mask.” The enormous jaws disappeared.
Black material flowed across Leon’s face until only the white eyes remained.
His body had also returned much closer to its normal proportions.
Leon examined the result.
“Better.” Venom sounded less convinced.
Leon turned slightly.
The new form was sleek.
Black.
Faceless except for the white eyes.
Much less monstrous.
Yet something still bothered him.
He tilted his head.
“Something’s off.” Venom immediately laughed.
“Oh, I know what’s off.” Leon looked toward the symbiote head beside him.
“You look like Spider-Man.” Leon froze.
Venom’s tone became mockingly enthusiastic.
“Very handsome.” A tendril gestured toward him.
“Maybe I should add some color.” Venom pretended to consider it.
“How about red and blue?” Leon stared at his reflection again.
Then he saw it.
“Oh.” Aside from the differences in height and body shape, the silhouette really did resemble Spider-Man.
Even worse— There was a large white spider emblem across his chest.
Leon slowly looked down.
Then at Venom.
“Wait.” Venom became very still.
“I never asked for this.” Leon tapped the white spider symbol.
“You added that yourself.” Venom cleared its throat.
“Well…” Leon knocked lightly against the symbiote head beside his shoulder.
Venom recoiled dramatically.
“Your ideas influenced me.” “My ideas?” “Yes.” Venom nodded with complete confidence.
“The whole streamlined masked look naturally reminded me of Spider-Man.” “So you gave us his logo?” “An improved version.” Leon stared at him.
Venom continued defensively.
“Which we obviously don’t need.” A pause.
“But admit it.” Venom looked toward the mirror.
“My version is better than his.” Leon studied the emblem.
He reluctantly nodded.
“Honestly?” Venom leaned closer.
“It does look better.” Venom’s grin returned.
“I knew it.” Leon looked back at their overall design.
“Spider-Man’s suit isn’t exactly attractive.” “The colors are the biggest problem.” Venom snorted.
“Fits him perfectly.” Leon glanced sideways.
Venom continued.
“He looks awkward and innocent, but underneath all that he’s got a lot more going on than people think.” Leon almost laughed.
“That’s one way to describe him.” Venom’s eyes narrowed mischievously.
“Trust me.
I spent enough time inside Peter Parker to know.” Leon immediately raised a hand.
“I don’t need details.” “Coward.” “Let’s redesign the suit.” The Spider-Man jokes could wait.
Their own appearance still needed work.
They experimented for quite a while.
Different masks.
Different proportions.
Armor-like shapes.
Tighter designs.
Looser designs.
Eventually Leon decided they were approaching the problem from the wrong direction.
There was no reason their default appearance needed to resemble a superhero costume at all.
Venom could imitate clothing.
So why restrict themselves to skintight suits?
They shifted toward something that looked more natural while remaining practical, anonymous, and easy to move in.
After several revisions, Leon finally stopped.
The figure in the mirror had completely changed.
A broad-shouldered man dressed entirely in black stood before him.
A hood covered his head.
Beneath it, there was no visible face.
Only darkness.
Two pale white eyes floated within that darkness, cold and unsettling.
The effect was strange.
It almost looked as though the shadows beneath the hood swallowed every trace of light except those eyes.
The clothing Venom created had a dense, durable appearance.
It wasn’t skin-tight like Spider-Man’s suit.
But it wasn’t baggy like ordinary streetwear either.
It followed Leon’s movement naturally, revealing enough of his muscular frame to suggest strength without looking like a costume painted directly onto his body.
Leon turned sideways.
Then moved his arms.
Much better.
Unless a situation specifically required Venom’s full monstrous form, this would become their standard appearance.
Venom inspected the mirror.
“Not bad.” Leon waited.
Venom continued.
“Obviously not as majestic as my original design.” “Obviously.” “But it’s close.” Leon smiled.
Then Venom looked at itself again.
“You know…” Leon already knew what was coming.
“Spider-Man’s red-and-blue tights look even worse now.” Leon laughed.
“You really refuse to let that go.” “They’re terrible.” “His fighting style makes a tight suit practical.” Leon adjusted the hood.
“Without access to special materials, something fitted and flexible makes sense for someone moving the way he does.” He looked at Venom.
“We almost ended up doing exactly the same thing without realizing it.” Venom reluctantly accepted that.
Leon continued.
“The color scheme is another matter.” He looked at their own completely black design.
“I prefer this.” “Of course you do.” Venom sounded pleased.
“Black looks better.” “And it’s much harder to spot at night.” Venom nodded approvingly.
“See?” A tendril patted Leon’s shoulder.
“Perfect partners.” “We agreed on one color.” “Exactly.
Perfect compatibility.” Leon shook his head.
Venom’s head dissolved back into the clothing.
Its voice came from inside him.
“Now let’s test the fun stuff.” Leon left the house.
Tonight wasn’t about revenge.
Not yet.
Before he went hunting for anyone, he needed to understand what his new body could actually do.
For the first part of the test, Leon allowed Venom greater control.
The symbiote understood these abilities far better than he did.
Venom could demonstrate them first.
Leon could learn through the bond.
They stepped into the night.
“Ready?” Leon looked toward the surrounding buildings.
“As I’ll ever be.” Thwip!
A strand of organic webbing shot from his wrist.
Leon stared as it crossed the street and stuck firmly to a nearby high-rise.
Before he could say anything— Venom pulled.
Leon launched into the air.
“Whoa!” The street disappeared beneath him.
Wind rushed past his body.
He swung upward in a wide arc before Venom released the web at exactly the right moment.
Leon flew toward the side of the building.
For an instant, instinct told him he was about to slam into the wall.
Instead— His feet touched the vertical surface.
And stayed there.
Leon looked down.
The street was dozens of feet below him.
Yet he stood on the side of the building as casually as if it were ordinary pavement.
His entire body was parallel to the ground.
Leon slowly lifted one foot.
Then placed it farther up the wall.
It held.
Another step.
Then another.
Soon, walking became jogging.
Jogging became running.
Leon raced straight up the side of the skyscraper.
“That is insane.” Venom laughed inside his head.
“Keep going!” Leon accelerated.
Seconds later, he reached the rooftop.
He planted one foot against the edge.
And jumped.
There was no hesitation this time.
Leon launched himself into open air.
“WOOHOO!” The shout escaped before he could stop it.
For one exhilarating moment, his black silhouette rose directly across the full moon.
Then gravity reclaimed him.
He fell.
Fast.
Wind roared around him.
Leon grinned at first.
He’d never experienced anything like this.
Buildings rushed past.
His clothes snapped in the air.
The city lights below grew larger.
Then larger.
Then— Leon stopped smiling.
“Venom.” No answer.
The ground was approaching rapidly.
“Venom.” Still nothing.
Leon looked down.
Cars.
Streetlights.
People.
All getting much closer.
“We’re getting pretty close to the ground!” Venom apparently heard him.
It just didn’t care.
Instead, the symbiote adjusted Leon’s body position.
Their fall became even faster.
Leon felt his stomach rise into his throat.
“VENOM?” The symbiote finally laughed.
“Relax!” “RELAX?” “I’ve got you!” The street continued racing toward them.
Venom sounded delighted.
“Even if we hit hard enough to break you into a few pieces, I can put you back together.” Leon went silent.
His mind needed a second to process what he’d just heard.
Then— “What kind of reassurance is that?!” Venom laughed even harder.
Leon stared at the rapidly approaching pavement.
At this speed, he wasn’t going to break a few bones.
He was going to hit the street like a bag of wet cement.
There wouldn’t be pieces.
There would be a crater and an unpleasant cleanup job.
The road was almost directly beneath him now.
Leon’s restraint finally snapped.
“VENOM, YOU FUCKING LUNATIC!” Venom’s laughter filled his head.
“AAAAAHHHHH!” CREATORS’ THOUGHTS SYSTEMATIC_MANIAC Enjoying the novel?
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