----
Night had settled over New York City, but the skyline wasn't still.
A black blur swung from rooftop to rooftop, barely more than a shadow.
"Damn it… You nearly attacked Aunt May!" Peter growled beneath his mask, voice tight with guilt and panic.
"I'm hungry," came the deep, gravelly voice in his head a voice that wasn't his.
Peter's eye lenses narrowed.
"I'll grab you a rotisserie chicken when I get back."
"I want meat. I want people."
"Absolutely not!" Peter snapped, furious. He'd been struggling with this... thing ever since his suit started talking back. What was once his faithful red-and-blue was now an oil-black monstrosity that whispered to him constantly.
The entity had a name—Venom.
It gave him speed. Strength. Reflexes, unlike anything he'd ever felt. It even improved his webbingcgenerating its own on-demand, stronger, faster, and infinite.
But the cost?
His mind.
The black, tar-like substance he'd found near Oscorp weeks ago he realized now it hadn't just bonded to him. It was consuming him. From within.
"I said I'm hungry!"
"You almost hurt May!" Peter shouted, crouched atop a rooftop, digging his fingers into the mask like he could claw the voice out of his head.
Black slime oozed from his body, stretching and slithering across his limbs. From it emerged a grotesque face white fangs, pupil-less eyes.
"You didn't choose me," Venom snarled. "I chose you. You are my host. I give you strength. You help me hunt."
"Hunt who?"
Venom's tone darkened. "The Life Foundation. And their leader Riot."
Peter blinked. "Riot?"
"The one who betrayed me. The one who left me to die. You help me kill him and I'll leave you."
Peter's mind reeled. Riot. Life Foundation. Suddenly the puzzle pieces fit.
He remembered the recent news conference where Carlton Drake, CEO of the Life Foundation, unveiled a self-regenerating treatment for broken bones using a bio-engineered organism.
Peter had paid attention, especially since Oscorp was researching similar self-healing sprays.
It was the same black goo.
The same species.
The same symbiote.
"But they're based in San Francisco…"
"You know where to go."
Peter sighed, tension boiling under his skin. He couldn't tell Stark not now. Tony was too busy managing his Illuminati ambitions. And he wasn't ready to trust Dr. Nolan with his identity.
Besides, if the Life Foundation was abducting the homeless for experimentation, like Venom claimed, then this mission was justified.
So, he took a breath.
And he leaped into the night headed west.
…
Meanwhile, in Oscorp Labs
Nolan stared at the glowing green vial in his hand. Inside it swirled the culmination of dozens of cellular trials: the Mutagenic Shifter Serum a fusion of Red Hulk's gamma-absorption and Mystique's molecular adaptability.
All he needed now was ignition.
He lay back in a nutrient chamber as the pod sealed around him, submerging his body in viscous healing fluid. Before him, a calibrated gamma ray cannon powered up.
"A.E.L.R., begin the sequence."
The voice of his AI assistant replied instantly. "Confirmed."
A vibranium syringe pierced his arm, injecting the serum directly into his bloodstream. Nolan barely flinched but he felt it.
The formula hit like lava.
Gamma rays blasted against his skin. Muscles convulsed. Bones screamed under pressure. It felt as if every fiber of his being was melting and then reforging itself inside a sun.
His body absorbed the radiation with ruthless efficiency, converting every pulse into strength. The surrounding fluid began to vaporize as heat radiated off him, only to be reabsorbed through his pores.
Then came the real transformation.
In his mind's eye, the meditative sphere he used to visualize his inner world cracked and shattered.
His cells weren't just evolving. They were rebuilding.
Mitochondria fragmented and restructured into hyper-efficient energy cores, multiplying by the dozen within every cell. Radiation no longer harmed him.
It fed him.
Even his previous Steel Body Cells, thought to be the peak of mutation, merged seamlessly with this new form.
Bones hardened. Tendons aligned. Muscles are compressed into coils of untapped force.
Nolan opened his eyes.
"Run a scan," he ordered calmly.
"Vitals stable. The radiation absorption ratio is active. Strength output estimated… one-hundred and fifty tons baseline."
He raised a brow. "Not bad."
Red Hulk and the base Hulk hovered around 100 tons under normal conditions. This wasn't just an upgrade.
It was a quantum leap.
"And the radiation conversion efficiency?"
"One dose of gamma radiation increases strength by approximately 100 kilograms," A.E.L.R. replied. "Ultraviolet or solar exposure yields the same results, but at fifteen times the required dose. Mitochondrial latency suggests a delay in peak absorption under low-yield radiation."
Nolan nodded. "Expected. I'll optimize the matrix later."
He stepped from the pod, steam curling off his skin as if nothing had happened. To him, this was routine.
Then A.E.L.R.'s alert chimed again.
"Sir. The target Venom-afflicted Spider-Man has departed New York. Destination: San Francisco. Estimated objective: Life Foundation."
Nolan's eyes narrowed.
Perfect timing.
He reached for his coat.
"Good. Let's pay them a visit."
----
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