Black Parasite

Eddie Brock watched as the rain fell against the glass. His life was hell. The alien symbiote clung to his body like a child to its mother. It couldn’t live without him and yet it controlled his life. The alien taunted him even now in the back of his mind.

“Follow my orders, Eddie, or everything you love will die.”

The thing used this threat to force him on the plane and that plane took him to the Amazon. He didn’t know why the alien wanted to go here but he hated it. Bugs nipped at his arms and he feared to step on a snake everywhere he went. Why did the symbiote want to go here?

A roar of sound echoed throughout the jungle. A large flock of birds filled the sky. They were afraid but of what?

The alien whispered in his mind, “Go towards the sound.”

Eddie trudged through the jungle for another hour. Just when he thought the bugs would eat him alive, he came to a clearing. A large green figure was ripping trees from the ground, their roots trying to hold on to their precious earth. The roots were no match for the beast’s strength and gave up after merely seconds of resistance.

Eddie slowly lowered himself to the ground. The beast roared. Eddie’s eyes squeezed shut, fearing that he had been spotted. He imagined himself being beat to a bloody pulp and realized that even if he used the symbiote he wouldn’t stand a chance. Silence settled across the jungle.

When Eddie looked up he saw the giant breathing heavily as if satisfied with the destruction before him. Then the beast’s muscled form melted away, forming a growing green puddle on the ground. The puddle seeped into the ground in an instant.

A lank man stood naked where the beast had been destroying the forest just moments before. He took in a deep breath and started walking away.

“That’s what I call a worthy host!” the alien said in Eddie’s head.

Fear gripped Eddie like a wolf would a sheep’s throat. If the alien were to bond with this monstrosity, the world would burn. “I won’t help you,” he said aloud and ran from the clearing.

“Stop!” the alien yelled, “You will take me back there and you will let me fuse with the monster!” “NO!” Eddie screamed. The symbiote took physical shape and wrapped its webs of darkness around his body. Eddie tried to rip the thing off of his back to no avail. It kept trying. The alien could not be beaten. Eddie was no match.

A thought popped into his head. There was a knife in his pocket, just a simple pocket knife.

“I will not let you do this,” he whispered as he stopped struggling, slowly inching his hand to his pocket.

“You don’t have a choice,” the alien replied.

Eddie drew the knife. With a flick of the wrist the blade was out and with one quick movement he plunged the blade into his neck. The steel severed his jugular. He would die without fail.

“Yes I do.”

…

Bruce Banner entered the lab. His body was recovering from his anger. His attempt to rid himself of the Hulk was proving to be quite the enigma.

Doctor Curt Connors stood up from his desk. “How was it this time?”

Bruce shook his head. “Two days Curt. In two days, I’ve leveled so many trees.” His gaze fell towards a beaker on one of his tables. A bright blue fluid rested in the glass. Light radiated from the concoction. “We might as well trash that. It didn’t work. Nothing will work. The Hulk will be the death of me.”

Doctor Connors stood and placed his hand on his friend’s shoulder. “We will find a cure my friend. If I can control the Lizard than the idea of you controlling the Hulk isn’t impossible.”

Bruce sat down and breathed out his worries. “The Hulk has taken everything from me. I will stop him, but how?”

Curt sat down at his desk as well. An idea popped into his head. “What if we haven’t been looking in the right place? What if the cure can only be made with something not of this world?”

Bruce looked up at his friend: one of the only friends he had left. “Are you suggesting that the components of reverse gamma exposure are not available on Earth?”

“Think about it. We’ve tried so many things. Why not think outside the box? Outside the planet if you will.” Bruce thought about for a moment. “You may very well be right. But until we find a way to acquire this component and the means to retrieve it, we have to keep trying.”

…

The symbiote pulled its inky black form from the pathetic excuse for a human. The human had served its purpose, but now the alien needed a new host. That beast from earlier, it would make the perfect host.

Slithering along the jungle floor the alien headed toward the direction the beast went.

…

Bruce Banner was doing everything he could think of. He tried using more radiation, the opposite radiation of gamma, and even a parasite cleansing solution. “I’m gonna go smoke a cigarette Curt, be right back.”

Bruce started smoking when he lost the love of his life. The nightmares still haunted his sleep. Smoking didn’t really help, just merely a slow suicide. If he couldn’t beat the Hulk, maybe lung cancer could. He could see her sweet face perfectly in his mind, covered in blood.

“Bruce! Bruce! Are you in there?”

The Hulk had crushed her skull between his palms.

He took a draw on his smoke and tried to let out his worries. That was impossible. The Hulk is a monster. It must be slain like the ones from the stories.

A black pool caught his eyes. What the hell is that? He thought and walked closer to examine it. Strange. With a flick, he dropped his ashes on the pool. In response the pool took life and writhed like a pile of snakes.

“What the hell?” he said aloud this time.

The creature took a slight human form. A head emerged with wicked, inky teeth. A hiss slithered out of its maw. It attacked with speed like nothing on this world.

Banner dodged, barely, and ran inside. “Curt! Curt!”

“What’s wrong? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

Bruce tried to catch his breath, which was hard after a smoke. Finally, he caught it and said, “There’s some sort of alien life form outside.” Suddenly, a memory hit him. He had heard of something like this before. Long ago, while searching for a way to separate himself from the Hulk, he found a report Connors had wrote. The report focused on Peter Parker and the study of a black suit. Connor had believed the thing to be a parasitic alien life form but, he never heard anything more about it. One day Peter showed up without it and the news exploded with stories about a black creature terrorizing New York.

Curt’s eyes enlarged. “It’s not outside anymore.”

The alien seeped under the door. The sludge then slowly rose from the floor to take its human-like shape again. Claws like black blades reached forward for Bruce and hissed, “You will make a great host, green beast.”

Bruce backed into a corner, breaking several beakers. A gunshot echoed throughout the lab. Bruce turned to see Curt holding a smoking revolver. The ink collapsed and didn’t move. It was dead.

Bruce breathed out. “Thanks, Curt. But how long have you had that gun?”

“I’m sorry to say this, but I’ve been keeping it in case your dark side ever threatened my life.”

“Wonderful. Glad to know my friend will put a bullet through my head to protect his own life,” he said teasingly.

“Gotta look out for number one.”

Bruce looked like he was about to say something but suddenly he screamed in pain. “Get it off of me!”

Curt leveled his pistol, unsure what to do. He knew that the symbiote’s weakness was fire and intense sound waves but all he had was a pistol. “Shoot me Curt! If this thing gets a hold of the Hulk we’ll never stop him,” Bruce yelled, pure terror in his voice. Violently tossing, Bruce heaved his desk over, spilling several chemicals on the floor. Smoke rose where the chemicals mixed.

Curt aimed the pistol at Banner’s writhing form. His finger was like stone. He couldn’t bring himself to do it. Banner was not only his colleague, but his friend as well. “I can’t,” he said. Cowardly, he ran.

Banner tried to rip the alien from his back. It was stuck to him like super glue. “I will not let you bond to me!” he screamed. Green filled his eyes as his anger grew.

Power surged through his veins, stretching his muscles beyond their normal limit. His form grew until the lab could no longer contain him. With a punch, the Hulk blasted the door from its hinges. With a roar of defiance, he ran from the lab. Curt watched from the somewhat safe part of the lab in horror. The lab was destroyed. Months of research gone. Worst of all, his friend was in grave danger as was the rest of the world.

With a steady resolve, Curt walked towards his desk. A steady, determined hand opened the drawer, emptied the contents, and removed the false bottom. Inside were three vials, resting in a vinyl case. Green liquid filled them.

…

The green giant ran full tilt towards a tree; every cell of his body wanted this thing dead. Using his momentum, he jumped and turned in midair. Splinters exploded from the impact. The black monstrosity screamed as it was smashed between the tree and the giant.

Hulk turned to find the ink plastered to what was left of the tree. Great fists pounded the goo over and over again. Pain lanced up his knuckles. Hulk pulled back his attack. Apparently, the alien had grown spikes on its form. The sludge seemed to laugh at its trap.

Hulk’s anger doubled. Gamma pulsed through his muscles, increasing his strength. Grabbing the spikes, the Hulk tried to rip them from the goo. The spikes stretched instead of ripping.

The tendrils snaked down his arm. Slowly, it pulled its body forward, latching itself onto the Hulk yet again.

Unbridled rage forced the giant to hit the ink, even though it was attached to his body. The Hulk could feel his own ribs cracking.

Ignoring the pain, the alien pushed its tendrils up the Hulk’s face, using his eyes and nose as entrances. The Hulk tried to rip the thing away. He tried so desperately. Not even the mighty Hulk could deny the symbiote of its desires.

The tentacles reached deep into the Hulk’s skull and gripped his brain. The Hulk did his best to resist the alien but in this form his strength wasn’t in his intelligence. Several antagonizing moments passed and it wasn’t long before the symbiote had full control.

The black ink covered the Hulk’s skin like armor. Claws formed on his massive fingers and a cape of wriggling tendrils sprouted from his back. A razor filled mouth ripped open and claimed its victory, “Venom has returned!”

… The Venom behemoth clenched a clawed fist, testing out its new body. Power pulsed through his entire being. He had complete control of the Hulk’s body. However, his mind was a battlefield.

In his head, Bruce Banner pleaded with the symbiote. “You don’t realize the kind of monster the Hulk is!” The Hulk roared in defiance as he pounded at the gate separating them.

“Shut up, both of you,” Venom mentally screamed. He never enjoyed sharing a mind with Eddie, let alone Banner and the Hulk. One was a twit, while the other was a caged beast whose cage had to be reinforced constantly.

Venom looked around the forest to make sure it was safe. Ideas started to bubble up from the miasma he called a brain. His thoughts drifted to his planet, filled to the brim with other symbiotes. The alien race reveled in conquer and bathed in blood. A grin stretched across its face. One call to his home world could bring hundreds of symbiotes to Earth. From there, he would lead them as Emperor Venom!

Venom laughed a deep throated laugh that echoed through the Amazon. A strange noise reached his ears. A hiss was coming from the lab he had previously destroyed!

A green form crashed into Venom, claws raking at the black beast. Venom’s tendrils became weapons and struck at the Lizard. The reptile withstood every blow without a single cry of pain and retaliated with tooth and claw.

“Oh, so that’s how we’re gonna play?” Venom taunted as the Lizard tried to gnaw off his arm. Venom’s maw opened to an extreme width and latched onto the Lizard’s shoulder.

Blood seeped down the white lab coat that Curt was wearing. His entire arm went limp from the bite. Instinct kicked in and the Lizard grabbed at the behemoth’s throat. Everything had a weakness and the Lizard considered the neck a universal one.

Venom felt the claws dig into his throat, each talon severing the muscles. Pain did not bother him, but it did bother the Hulk. Inside his mind, the green giant screamed while beating on the gates of his prison. Every time a crack appeared, another layer was added. “It’s no use Hulk,” Banner said as he sat in the corner, convinced all was lost. “There’s nothing we can do,” Banner whimpered as he fought the pain in his throat. The Hulk heard Banner and redoubled his efforts.

Venom looked down at the creature, half dead, clutching his throat and felt a slight remorse. A powerful being such as that deserved a valiant death. Venom allowed his ink-like skin stretch and engulfed the reptile in a cloak of darkness. The Lizard tried to break away but was trapped by the razor filled maw. The ink started to contract. Venom felt nothing as he squeezed every bit of life out of Curt Connors. Reptilian bones littered the jungle floor. Venom considered the fight a nuisance. Sticky life fluid covered his form. He washed himself in the river, leaving the water red. Venom chuckled as he considered the irony. The creatures of the forest, especially the reptiles, will drink the blood of Curt Connors: the Lizard.

…