The chaotic, visceral biology of the Klyntar species didn't usually follow Earthly logic, but this was pushing it even for Peter.
Hanging from the side of a burning crane in the Iron Spider armor, Peter ran the comic-book lore through his head. In the original 616 continuity, Riot, Phage, Agony, and Lasher were all artificial offspring, forcibly extracted from the Venom symbiote by the Life Foundation. They shared the exact same genetic root. That shared DNA was the only reason they could seamlessly fuse into the monstrous entity known as Hybrid.
But in this universe? They were just random, ancient space-parasites that happened to hitch a ride on the same meteor.
Hey, buddy, Peter asked his internal passenger, keeping his eyes locked on the swirling red mass of alien flesh below. Can all of your people just Voltron themselves together like this?
No, Venom's deep, rumbling voice echoed in Peter's mind. The black sludge felt uneasy, recoiling slightly from the sight. I have never witnessed this.
Are they related? Like, genetically?
We do not possess a human concept of family, Venom replied.
But no. They do not share a biological root.
Peter tapped the side of his crimson helmet, opening a secure comms channel to the NYPD barricade. "Captain Stacy? Pull your men back. Now. I need a three-block buffer zone." He immediately switched the frequency, routing a heavily encrypted ping to the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier currently speeding toward New York. "Fury, listen to me. The four targets just merged into a giant red Mega-Zord. Tell Fitz to figure out how to separate them, or figure out a way to permanently seal this entire dockyard."
Peter killed the comms. The mechanical spider-legs deployed from his back with a sharp, metallic clack. He launched himself off the crane, diving straight into the inferno.
Down on the concrete pier, Hybrid was testing its new body.
The Iron Spider HUD rapidly scanned the creature. It stood roughly eight and a half feet tall. While it wasn't quite as bulky as Venom's maximum mass, the density of its blood-red musculature was terrifying.
Hybrid raised its hands, turning them over as if staring at a new world. "This is fascinating," the creature spoke, its voice a sickening, four-layered chorus of overlapping alien tones. "We have never attempted this before."
A massive, thick red tentacle erupted from the creature's spine. It slammed downward like a falling redwood tree. The reinforced concrete dock shattered instantly. The ground gave way, and freezing black river water violently surged up through the jagged cracks.
Spider-Man landed lightly on a rusted shipping container, dodging the sweeping appendage.
Hybrid didn't even look at him. The monster reached out toward the flooded pier. Its right hand aggressively expanded, the red biomass wrapping entirely around the steel hull of a moored tugboat. With a deafening groan of tearing metal, Hybrid ripped the multi-ton boat entirely out of the water and hurled it straight at Peter.
Peter dropped flat. The boat sailed over his head, obliterating the shipping container behind him in a massive shower of sparks and rusted iron.
Peter sprang up, thrusting his palms forward. He dumped the last of his suit's heavily drained bio-electric reserves into his repulsors. Two blindingly white beams of concentrated heat struck Hybrid squarely in the chest.
The red monster didn't melt. Combining Riot's dense resistance with Phage's impenetrable armor, the creature simply raised a hand, tanking the intense thermal output with only a slight hiss of steam.
Hybrid charged.
Peter's spider-sense screamed, but the Iron Spider armor was sluggish, its capacitors entirely tapped out. Before Peter could fire a web-line, Hybrid closed the distance. The monster's massive, clawed hand clamped down entirely over Peter's armored head.
Hybrid unhinged its jaw, exposing rows of jagged, overlapping red teeth, and bit down with bone-crushing force.
CRUNCH.
The heavy, metallic taste of Stark-tech titanium flooded Hybrid's mouth. The monster chewed once, pausing in sheer confusion.
It had only bitten an empty helmet.
Peter had already hit the emergency release clasp on his collar. He slid out of the neck-seal, rolled smoothly between Hybrid's thick legs, and popped up directly behind the beast.
"My turn," Peter whispered.
The black sludge violently erupted from Peter's skin. Venom took absolute control, expanding outward until he towered over ten feet tall, a hulking mass of inky black muscle and white veins. Venom planted his feet and threw a devastating, earth-shattering right hook directly into the back of Hybrid's skull.
The red monster didn't even stumble.
Hybrid slowly turned its head, the impact barely registering on its dense armor.
"Such a fragile strike," Hybrid mocked. "Allow us to demonstrate."
Hybrid threw a casual backhand.
The impact sounded like a cannon detonating. Venom was launched backward with terrifying, uncontrollable velocity. He smashed straight through the brick wall of a burning warehouse, soared entirely across the street, and crashed violently through the glass facade of an abandoned office building a full block away.
Down on the street, the NYPD officers scrambled for cover behind their cruisers. Captain Stacy grabbed his radio, shouting over the chaos. "Push the line back! Evacuate the surrounding zone immediately!"
Inside the wrecked office lobby, Venom slowly peeled himself out of a cratered concrete pillar. He shook his massive, jagged head. Chunks of plaster and drywall rained from his broad shoulders.
Oh, Venom grunted in Peter's mind.
Yeah. Raw strength isn't going to cut it, buddy, Peter replied, his tactical mind racing. Think like me. Use the environment. Don't fight the tank head-on.
Venom let out a deafening, glass-shattering screech. He threw himself forward, sprinting blindly through the collapsing office building. As he ran, thick black tendrils shot out from his shoulders, grabbing support beams, rebar, and load-bearing walls. He actively pulled the crumbling structure back together, stabilizing the architecture with his own biomass so the building wouldn't crush the officers on the street below.
He vaulted out the shattered window, soaring high over the barricade.
Back at the docks, Hybrid stepped out of the flames. Two brave NYPD officers had held their ground, firing their service weapons at the monster's chest. Hybrid didn't flinch. The creature simply flicked its wrist. Two razor-sharp red spikes shot out, piercing both officers directly through their tactical vests.
Hybrid yanked the corpses forward, its jaw unhinging to consume their heads.
Venom dropped from the sky like a black meteor.
Hybrid casually swiped a massive, tree-trunk-sized tentacle upward to swat him out of the air. But Venom didn't aim for the body. He aimed for the appendage. Venom's massive claws dug deep into the red tentacle. He twisted his torso mid-air, utilizing Hybrid's own upward momentum, and bodily slammed the red behemoth directly over his shoulder.
Hybrid crashed heavily into the roof of a burning warehouse, burying the monster under tons of flaming steel and brick.
Venom landed with a heavy thud directly in front of the NYPD barricade.
He stood up to his full height. The police officers immediately raised their trembling shotguns, aiming at the towering black monster.
Venom pointed a massive, clawed finger down at Captain Stacy. "CAPTAIN. YOU MUST EVACUATE THIS PERIMETER THREE ADDITIONAL BLOCKS." Venom paused, his long, serpentine tongue dragging across his jagged teeth. "ALSO. DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY CHOCOLATE?"
George Stacy stared up at the dripping, inky-black monstrosity. He didn't blink. "Are... are you Spider-Man?"
"NO," Venom rumbled, crossing his massive arms. "I AM HIS PARTNER. HIS ARMOR. WHEN HE ENCOUNTERS LARGE, STUPID MONSTERS, I HANDLE THEM. I AM STRONG." Venom pointed a thumb back at the burning warehouse. "THEY ARE BAD. I AM GOOD. THAT SUMMARIZES THE SITUATION."
"I have never heard of a living suit of armor before," Stacy muttered, completely bewildered by the sheer absurdity of the conversation.
"ADVANCED ALIEN BIOLOGY," Venom replied dismissively. "DOES NO ONE HAVE THE CHOCOLATE?"
A terrified, slightly overweight rookie cop slowly reached into his patrol car. He pulled out a half-eaten box of assorted chocolates with a trembling hand. "Uh... is this enough?"
Venom didn't answer. He snatched the box, tossed the entire thing into his mouth—cardboard, plastic wrapper, and all—and swallowed it in a single, sickening crunch. He smacked his lips. The sudden rush of phenylethylamine flooded his system, instantly revitalizing his cellular structure.
A massive explosion rocked the docks behind them. Four colossal red tentacles tore through the roof of the ruined warehouse, whipping violently against the night sky.
Captain Stacy swallowed hard. "I'm guessing you have to go deal with the big stupid monster now?"
Venom nodded. He dropped into a sprinter's crouch, his claws gouging deep trenches into the asphalt. He launched himself forward, a black blur streaking straight back into the inferno.
Hybrid rose from the rubble, its mass expanding even further, hitting a full ten feet in height. The two absolute titans collided in the center of the flames, trading blows that echoed like heavy artillery fire.
The ground shook violently beneath the officers' boots.
Captain Stacy raised his radio to his mouth. "All units. Fall back. Evacuate everything east of York Avenue, from 71st to 78th Street."
"And then what, Captain?" the dispatcher asked over the static.
Stacy watched the silhouettes of the two alien monsters tearing each other apart in the fire.
"Then, we pray Spider-Man wins."