BAD DREAM

“i think it’s time we finally pay toomes a visit. you know... we don’t normally do the whole hero thing.” eddie floored the tanker trucker, wildly kicking up water as it raced along the new york street. the engine roared as the truck continued to accelerate, struggling to haul the weight of the gasoline tanks. brock glanced over at gwen with a bright smile. while this was a morally grey mission for either of them, eddie liked the side of himself that only gwen seemed to bring out. with the green goblin out of the picture, the sinister six were easy pickings for venom -- and ghostspider. why not help her clean up the city? though, he had a feeling blowing up their headquarters wasn’t what she had in mind. the fenced in perimeter of bestman salvage appeared in the distance, the road ending at its gates. “get ready to jump once we’re in, okay?” his eyes locked on the road before them. the salvage yard was only a front. inside the warehouses were military grade explosives, weapons, and god knows what other technology. the gate barely put up a fight as the truck rammed its way through the chain-link fence. “now!”

“you bet.” eddie let out an unnerved chuckle as the reporter stepped out into the light of the alleyway. “luck you’re not cop. those are like walking chocolate bars around here.” eddie arched an eyebrow curiously as the stranger explained. “really? so, you’re hanging out on this side of town, taking a peaceful walk in the middle of the night?” brock couldn’t shake the feeling that he recognized the other male. perhaps his face had popped up in a daily globe article. he struggled to recall exactly. “i don’t know. i call bullshit.”  

seeing the web shoot out across the apartment stirred more than few emotions within the reporter. he opts for a bright smile as the bottle comes whizzing back. “well, that story’s sort of being rewritten now that you’re here, huh?” eddie wondered how earth-65 new york was doing without their friendly neighborhood protector. truthfully? he didn’t care. he furrowed a brow, finding the pity a little out of place. brock was constantly needing to remind himself that gwen had no context for his life - specifically family life. “don’t sweat it. i’m fine. promise.” eddie chose not to get into the sticky details of his relationship with his mother. he just listened to the girl explain her experience with a simbiote. “i guess i have a few tricks up my sleeve as well.” brock quickly stretched his arm out towards the kitchen. a black tendril lashed out over the counter-top, knocking the blender to the floor with a loud crash. the fridge door frantically swung open as condiment and beer bottles went flying. a stack of chinese take out containers toppled down as venom grabbed a single bag of shredded cheese. “ta da!” eddie stared at the disaster in the kitchen as venom returned the cheese to the male. “well.”

brock couldn’t exactly tell the girl that he and venom were expecting to parker - not mary jane. “what makes you think it was a threat? you just weren’t who we were expecting is all.” eddie couldn’t help but roll his eyes as she spoke. “if we can’t have the spider, why not settle for the next best thing?” the reporter reflected silently on the voice inside his head. eddie knew that if anything ever happened to mary jane, spider-man would definitely turn up. brock’s gaze strayed on the girl for a moment, weighing his options. “a friend’s house? let me walk you there. these streets are dangerous at this time of night.” the male offered a genuine smile. eddie’s friendship with mary jane predated any spider-man resentment. venom wouldn’t cloud his judgement tonight. “pussy.”

“a stake-out? who are we watching and why?” his curiosity was certainly piqued, wondering who could have possibly made hardy’s shit-list. brock faintly remembered something about doing odd jobs for kingpin. “should i grab us some coffee and donuts while we wait?” eddie’s eyes followed the girl’s gaze. their relationship had certainly been on the mend - it was always hot and cold with them. brock was doing his best to be a decent friend to the girl. “we were waiting for parker to show up, but... we haven’t seen him for a while. i’m beginning to think that mysterio guy beat us to the punch.” eddie couldn’t help but laugh, nudging felicia’s playfully. 

“trust us. the missing mutants are the least of your problems right now.” venom dropped from the fire escape overhead, landing with a loud thud behind the stranger. drooled spilled past venom’s tongue as it flicked from side to side. “eyes, lungs, pancreas... so many snacks, so little time...” the simbiote’s mouth stretched wide open, showing off his impressive rows of jagged teeth. “wait...” venom leaned down a bit to inspect their prey closer. his large opalescent eyes fixated on the stranger. the simbiote quickly retreated back into eddie brock, leaving only the reporter standing in the dark alley. “sorry about that! you’re definitely not who we were expecting.” eddie offered a dismissive shrug. “our bad.” brock stepped closer warily. “what are you doing out here, anyway?”

“you didn’t even let me get out of the building.” the reporter chuckled, turning in place to face the other male. harry looked like a lost puppy. “when you’re ready to know what’s going on in this city, i’ll tell you everything i know. but yeah - i definitely swing back by to check in on you.” eddie figured that osborn’s life had become a rather lonely one since his father’s death. brock wondered if anyone else from midtown high had bothered to check in on harry. though, that wasn’t exactly what brock had planned on doing. in reality, he came to oscorp looking for a fight. “we’ll have have to get the old gang back together again.” in that moment, found his next angle. harry was  another way to parker. “see if peter and mj want to meet up soon. i’m sure i could talk felicia into dropping by.”

brock followed the girl like a lost puppy as they made their way over to the couch. the simbiote stretched out from eddie, slipping behind the girl without detection. venom flicked the lamp next to gwen on before disappearing again into eddie. the reporter enjoyed the poetic justice: knowing that on earth-65, peter parker was the one who befell earth-616′s fate. “she’s the spider?” this news brought on a new string of implications. brock looked the girl over for a moment. “are you serious? so... you’re saying that you have all the same abilities as spider-man? that’s incredible.” eddie’s mind was already going to work, piecing together a new plan; one that involved gwen. “really? earth-65′s elsa must have a little more maternal instinct than mine. we haven’t spoken in two years, actually.” brock couldn’t help but laugh as he thought about his mother before turning his attention back to gwen. “what about your eddie on earth-65? did he ever mention someone named venom?”

“really?” eddie perked up a bit. “that must be a common theme for us across the...” “multiverse.” “multiverse.” he let out a light laugh, allowing himself to ease up a bit. “you and i dated for years. we were happy. we were in love. things got messy between peter and i and - well, it’s a long story.” he wasn’t sure how exactly to word the following statement. it hurt to say. “you ended things with me before you died, though. i’m still not sure which hurt worse, honestly.” eddie took the girl’s hand in his own, letting his thumb trace along the back of her palm. his eyes locked with own as the closed the distance between them. “i want you to tell me everything. don’t be like that. we might actually get a second chance.” the man leaned in to place a kiss on the girl’s lips. “let’s start from the beginning.” 

“charity case? no one ever said anything about a charity chase. those missing mutants sound like more than any of you can comprehend. from what i’ve heard, everyone’s clueless.” eddie’s frustration was now dissipating as frustration took its place. “how many times do i have to tell you? i can walk!” eddie was stunned. he had no idea how but whoever this was knew about venom. it was if she could read his mind or something. “well, dude... the cat’s out of the bag.” as if on queue, a black oily substance began to spill along eddie’s entire body. venom quickly took the reporters place. the simbiote stared down at the stranger, hissing behind his toothy grin. venom’s body lurched forward as he pushed against the mutant’s invisible constraints with a screeching roar. “we are venom.”

in all honesty, eddie wasn’t quite sure why he was hanging around. it was odd how being in harry’s company brought out so much nostalgia. brock watched as the other male drew out a rough map of where he had run into gwen. “i don’t think you’re hallucinating. my opinion? you’re not as sick as you think you are. i’d stop taking whatever meds they have you on.” as much as he wanted to kill time, explaining everything about gwen to harry - he had better things to do. there was not point in getting harry involved in any of this. “hardy gems? oof.” eddie wondered if harry had been there since the break-in. brock assumed that was another bullet point on the long list of things harry osborn was kept out of the loop from. the reporter stood to his feet, grabbing the crude map of some new york city streets. “i know it is.” the male playfully roughed up obsorn’s hair before turning for the door. “you know what say! ignorance is bliss.” brock sauntered out of the office, eyeing the familiar assistant seated at a desk, immediately to his right. “you deserve a raise.”

“gwen already filled me in on the specifics - or, at least, what she knows.” the reporter wondered where stacy was in that moment. she was practically a walking bargaining chip. he couldn’t allow something to happen to her again. his gaze shifted to pietro with a puzzled look as the other male’s voice shifted from curious to defensive. why did everyone get so worked up around him? in the back of his mind, he knew the answer. “why would i want to mess with your sister? that’s a death sentence. besides - hurting the one person who brought gwen back isn’t exactly sound logic. if anything, i should thank wanda.” brock felt an unexpected wave of emotion rock his body, listening to himself speak. the reality that gwen really was back was settling in. “if there’s a message i want you to take back, it’s that. tell her eddie brock says thank you.” it was becoming very clear how little pietro truly trusted eddie. he was just another loose end. a smug smile returned as eddie shook the sentimental feeling. “you know... you really show your cards too much.” whatever happened to the superhuman that joined an terrorist organization in the name of extremist activism? eddie could really use that guy. “tony stark and the gang really have brain-washed you, haven’t they? huh.” 

eddie briefly considered the reality that mutants were not actually going missing and this was a way for charles xavier to further the mutant agenda. the stories that sold were the ones that got people asking questions and those missing mutants sure did the job. that was a conversation for another day and another person. “before she?” brock reveled in the fact that he was being treated like a landmine. the fact that pietro was wary about his company cemented the idea that he was formidable opponent in eddie’s head. “really? didn’t mention anything about pulling someone from another dimension? kinda feel like that kind of thing would pop up in conversation, pietro.” the reporter crossed his arms over his chest, eyes narrowing. “you must know something.”

the realization that harry was truly so far removed from anything that happened over the last couple years finally clicked in eddie’s head. osborn really been kept in the dark about everything. brock found it sad in a strange way. though, it was probably the only thing keeping him safe anymore. “if any of that had given me answers, i wouldn’t be here today. would i?” his usual smug demeanor faltered briefly at the mention of seeing gwen stacy. harry wasn’t the first person to say something like that. it wasn’t a coincidence. “you thought you saw gwen? where were you?” the reporter leaned into desk, his interest clearly piqued. “if you really think that’s how any of us are really connected, those doctors who said you’re cured might be frauds. things have happened that you know nothing about - apparently. we aren’t the same people you went to high school with harry.” 

“people are making it seem like someone’s just waltzing into that place and leaving with a couple of mutants in the bag. you’d think that place would be a little better protected, right?” he glanced back at the other male, trying his best to play into the whole missing mutant paranoia. eddie figured showing a bit of empathy would earn him brownie points in the eyes of the mutant. “maybe i’ll check it out.” brock had every intention on paying the mansion a visit. “did your sister happen to mention anything about gwen to you?” the news of earth-65 gwen being pulled from her dimension was still pretty fresh. the reporter wa trying to come to grips with the implication of his girlfriend (but not really) returning. “my gwen?” “not really.”