"Parasitic Sequence?" Ben murmured, a look of genuine surprise on his face. He wasn't shocked that the Omnitrix had successfully sampled the symbiote's DNA, but he hadn't expected it to unlock an entirely new subsystem.
A moment later, the watch fed him the data, and he understood. Organisms like the Klyntar could not survive for long without a host; deprived of nutrients, they would wither and die. The Ben 10 universe had similar species, and while the Omnitrix had internal fail-safes to sustain such life forms indefinitely, Azmuth had never intended to disrupt the fundamental nature of a species. So, he had designed the Parasitic Sequence.
The genes contained within this sequence gave the wearer two options: a direct transformation into the parasitic species itself, or the activation of a "Parasitic Mode," allowing the DNA sample to be overlaid onto another alien transformation.
It was, in effect, a way to give all his heroes a symbiote suit.
I don't care if it's stronger, Ben thought with a grin, the main thing is, it looks cool as hell!
Beyond the aesthetics, however, Ben was far more interested in another of the symbiote's abilities: genetic memory. When a symbiote bonds with a host, it doesn't just amplify their strength; it records their DNA, their abilities, their very essence, and integrates them into its own being. It was how Venom, after bonding with Spider-Man, had gained most of his powers, his combat style becoming a more brutal, violent version of the web-slinger's. This ability was a remnant of their creator, the dark god Knull, who used the symbiotes to absorb the power of lesser beings and feed it back to him.
This meant the genetic replication had a limit—a symbiote could typically only acquire the primary abilities of one host at a time. But for Ben, it was more than enough. An idea, a potential solution to the Alien X problem, began to form in his mind. It wasn't as simple as just absorbing the Celestialsapien's genes; Enara and Ouyana could reclaim that power in an instant. If he dared to try such a hostile takeover, he knew they would immediately set aside their eternal argument to obliterate him. No, this was more subtle. But before he could obtain their forgiveness, any attempt to seize control of Alien X was futile.
He scooped the glass container off the ground. The symbiote inside, realizing it was well and truly trapped, began to thrash wildly, its voice a muffled shriek.
"Let me out, you worthless piece of trash!"
"You have no idea who you're dealing with!"
"Do you believe I'll... beep beep beep..." The torrent of curses was as creative as it was vulgar. The creature was as talkative as Peter Parker, its chattering monologue threatening to shatter Ben's eardrums.
Ben had no time for its nonsense. He stuffed the container into his backpack and immediately returned to Primus Tower. By now, only Bruce Banner remained in the main lab. Dr. Connors, his reputation restored after the war against Hydra, was now able to go home to his wife and son. Dr. Octavius, too, had his own life to return to after work.
At this late hour, Banner was just shuffling out of his quarters in crooked pajamas, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. "What's going on?" he mumbled.
"Found something interesting," Ben said, pulling the glass bottle from his bag. "I need you to prepare a sonic resonance device for me, please."
Inside the bottle, the symbiote, apparently exhausted from its tirade, lay motionless. Its two white eye-patches were squeezed together in a listless expression. Life on the escape pod had been fine; the ship was designed to provide nutrients for a host-less symbiote. But here on Earth, without a body to bond with, it would eventually starve.
Banner's drowsiness vanished the moment he saw the creature. The shifting, living ooze instantly piqued his scientific curiosity.
"Be careful, Dr. Banner," Ben warned. "This is an alien symbiote. Once it possesses a host, it amplifies their emotions, especially aggression. It makes them... irritable."
Hearing this, Banner's outstretched hand snapped back as if he'd touched a live wire. He took several hurried steps away, putting a safe meter of distance between himself and the container. His eyes were wide with alarm. All thoughts of sleep were gone.
"Keep that thing away from me," he said, his voice tense. He couldn't believe Ben would bring such a dangerous creature into the same building as him. If the Hulk were to get possessed by that thing... the consequences would be catastrophic.
"Don't worry, Doctor. The symbiote has two major weaknesses: high-frequency sound waves and fire. As long as we take proper precautions, it's not getting out."
"Wait, how do you know..." a muffled voice shrieked from inside the bottle. Venom reared up as if it had seen a ghost.
Banner clapped a hand to his face. "Oh my god! That disgusting parasite can actually speak! And in English!"
That did it. Venom completely lost its composure. "YOU'RE THE PARASITE!"
Ordinarily, Venom was shameless, its skin thicker than a city wall, especially after the ideological "baptism" it had received from Deadpool. But the word "parasite" was a taboo, a trigger word that hit its deepest insecurity. Because, fundamentally, that's what it was. It was the difference between a casual insult and one that strikes a raw, painful nerve. The now-weakened symbiote began to rage violently once more.
Annoyed, Ben took the container down to an isolated lab in the sub-basement and placed it inside a sonic resonance chamber. The instant he activated the machine, the symbiote was blasted by high-frequency sound waves from all sides, its body contorting in agony, bursting into sharp spikes like a sea urchin.
"AHHH—STOP! STOP! I SURRENDER!"
Venom became obedient instantly. Ben switched off the machine. The tortured symbiote collapsed, melting into a weak, oily puddle on the floor of its container.
Banner stood outside the reinforced glass, marveling at the change. He noted how the creature's volume seemed to fluctuate—small in the bottle, shrinking violently under the sonic assault, and now spreading out into a liquid state.
How do you know my weakness? Venom wanted to ask. The symbiote race's weaknesses were innate, forged at their very creation when their god Knull hammered the All-Black Necrosword into existence. The clang of metal and the heat of the forge had become their hereditary bane. But very few beings in the universe knew this.
It didn't speak, however. Its experience with Deadpool had taught it one valuable lesson: when in doubt, play dead. It could afford to be patient. The Chitauri were coming. They would decimate this planet, and in the ensuing chaos, it would escape. Then, it would feast on the brains of all these pathetic Earthlings. The plan was flawless. Hehehe, I am a genius.
Ben, of course, knew Venom was faking. He couldn't let it die, anyway. Flash Thompson's recovery might depend on it. But the current Venom was far too unstable. Ben worried that if he bonded with Flash now, he wouldn't create Agent Venom, but something far more monstrous. I still have to find a time to let it possess Peter, he thought. A Venom that hasn't been baptized by Spider-Man's conscience isn't a good Venom.
He turned his attention back to the puddle in the container. "Venom," he asked casually, "besides you, did any other symbiotes come to this planet?"
The puddle, which had been playing dead, suddenly shot out a face. "How do you know my name is Venom?" it demanded, its voice filled with shock. It wanted to maintain its ruse, but this human seemed to know far too much.
"Could it be... you know that psychopath?" Venom asked, a hint of morbid curiosity in its tone. Then it seemed to shake its head. "Ah, forget it, who cares!"
"You know Deadpool?" Ben asked, raising an eyebrow. He hadn't heard a peep about the merc in this universe, but he wasn't surprised Venom had crossed his path.
"FUCK! YOU REALLY KNOW HIM?!" Venom roared, launching into a frantic tirade. "They all call ME a lunatic, but HE'S the real lunatic! Do you have any idea?! I told him my body could be weaponized, and he asked me to turn into a gun so he could fire me at himself! I said I wasn't a cup, but he insisted I stick my head out and give it to him... He said he'd never tried... with his own mouth!" The symbiote's voice rose to a hysterical shriek. "Do you know what a shock that is to an innocent symbiote baby like me?!"
Banner was stunned into silence, his entire worldview recalibrating.
Then, Ben asked the crucial question. "So... did you do it?"
Venom smacked its metaphorical lips. "He insisted..."
"Just because he insisted?" Ben's expression soured with disgust.
Venom's defenses shattered. "HE INSISTED!" it screamed.
"So you did it because he insisted?"
For a moment, the lab was utterly silent.
Finally, Ben spoke. "Dr. Banner... I didn't touch the container just now, did I?"
"I don't know if you did when you caught it," Banner said, looking thankful, "but I certainly haven't."
Ben's face grew even darker.
"Hey, hey, what's that supposed to mean?!" Venom protested. "I'm still clean! You think I'd keep any of that... disgusting stuff?"
"I now understand why your species has so many descendants," Ben muttered in disgust, backing away from the table. "Excuse me, I need to go sterilize my watch."
Banner trotted away with him. The thought of being alone in a room with Venom, even with the isolating glass, made his skin crawl. "We need to build a permanent containment unit," he said. "Something foolproof." He was already designing a modified version of Venom's own escape pod, a sealed environment where it could be sustained but never escape.
After thoroughly cleaning his watch, Ben returned to the lab. Venom, seeing him, became active again, sticking to the glass wall with a wet splat. "You want to know where the other five symbiotes are," it gloated, "but I'm not telling you anything."
"But you just did," Ben replied, holding up a hand. "You just said there were five others. Eunice?"
His AI's calm voice echoed through the lab. "Scanning public and private records. The Life Foundation has no record of acquiring any new extraterrestrial objects." Ben had been monitoring them since the Stark Expo.
"You can't find them, but I can," Venom smirked. "But I won't tell you." The unspoken subtext hung in the air: What's in it for me?
"What do you want?" Ben asked.
"I want to eat...!" Venom noticed the dangerous look in Ben's eyes and quickly changed its tune. "...the brain of that man from before!"
"Not going to happen." Ben rolled his eyes. Bruce Banner's brain was worth more than ten Venoms. Besides, he wasn't in the business of providing fresh brains. Wait, he thought, a slow, wicked smile spreading across his face. That's not entirely true. A steady supply of brains was, in fact, on its way to Earth. "Venom, I can get you all the brains you can eat. I just don't know if you're a picky eater."
He told the symbiote about the impending Chitauri invasion.
"You already knew?" Venom asked. "But your timing is wrong. It's not months away. Based on their fleet's speed, I'd estimate it's only a few days."
Now it was Ben's turn to be surprised.
"Originally," Venom said, its voice dripping with disgust, "I, Venom, would never deign to eat the brains of those locusts! They're all wholesale goods from a breeding farm; their brain capacity is smaller than a rooster's!" It paused, and then a grim, evil laugh began to bubble up from its mass. "But... they did dare to attack ME. And for that, I will personally bite off every single one of their heads and use their skulls as chamber pots!"
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