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When Eddie had gotten the call from Jameson of all people, albeit he was a bit miffed that the man threatened to blow up his cover, he hadn’t expected to hear that Carnage was back and worse, bonded with Norman Osborn becoming the Red Goblin.
So he and his darling agreed. Not only would they keep their cover but also stop a flying menace in the streets of New York.
Although they had been assaulted first by Mary Jane whom assumed they were after her, they managed to convince her to lower the defenses in Stark Tower so they could fight the Red Goblin properly. They got a couple of good hits but this was tougher than any of them thought.
Fire and sound didn’t work on him like they did on them and the Red Goblin had fire in his arsenal of weaponry.
And then Spider-Man showed up. Old grudges aside (plus they’ve moved on although they were not too keen on seeing Parker anyways) they worked in unison to get him down. Even with his help though, they still had a hard time getting the Red Goblin down.
So apparently from the conversation flying around between Spidey and Norman, Norman had gotten a child involved. Liz’s and Harry’s son. As if Norman couldn’t sink any lower. Children were innocent and to use a child sickened them to the core. Fear and rage broiled inside them just thinking of Sleeper who was residing in the labs below Alchemax.
Sleeper!
Could Norman have possibly known of Sleeper? But if he did, he would have taken Sleeper not Carnage in this case? Or did Norman take Sleeper already and feint that he didn’t know anything about Sleeper?
Whatever the case, they couldn’t let Norman get his hands on Sleeper!
Seeing that Mary Jane was alive albeit just receiving minor injuries, they ran out of Stark Tower and leaped out. “What are we waiting for? Let’s go!” They roared as they shot out webs and slung past the buildings ignoring Parker’s cry of alarm.
He was fast. That damn glider of his plus with it being enhanced by Carnage only made it faster. Soon enough, Parker had caught up to them.
“Slow down there, Venom! He’s headed to Alchemax!” Peter shouts.
That only made their fears grow even more.
“All the more why we need to get there now!”
Peter noticed the sense of distress in Venom’s furious roar and he wondered why. “What’s wrong, Venom? Is there something you want to tell me?” He asks.
“None of your business, Parker!”
“Look, Eddie, I need to know what’s going on! I need to know everything that I’m dealing with other than Norman! Whatever it is you know, he might know!” Parker barks angrily.
Parker did raise a good point and his love pointed it out. “He’s right. I don’t like it either but maybe he can help us get Sleeper back if our child is taken by Red Goblin.” The symbiote said. Eddie begrudgingly had to agree.
“Fine. We met with Liz a few months ago. We needed her help because we always went into rages every now and then and we worked out a deal. A cure for these episodes and me dealing with the mad scientist in the sewers responsible for turning people into dinosaurs. We also came to her for help when we were about to birth Sleeper.”
“Wait, hold up! You mean those folks in the sewers, you got involved in that? And employing for help from the CEO of Alchemax? And you gave birth!?”
“Did we stutter?”
“So this Sleeper, is it going to turn out like Carnage?” That got an angry roar from Venom.
“No! We are raising Sleeper to be good!” Peter snorted at that. “You, Eddie, a father? Alongside the symbiote?” That struck a nerve in both the symbiote and Eddie. True, they may had been filled with hate a long time ago towards one goal that is of killing Spider-Man. But during their time separated and going down their own paths, they had learned to be better as individuals and as partners in their deep relationship. Still are. And they won’t fail Sleeper now.
Letting half his face be uncovered, Eddie glared at Peter. “Believe all you want, Parker. But we are doing our best to become better, for Sleeper. So me and my other are helping not just to stop the Red Goblin but also making sure that Sleeper won’t fall into that maniac’s hands!” With that said, his face once again covered by the symbiote, they swung ahead as fast as they could towards Alchemax.
They got there just when they saw Liz getting tossed out of the window by the Red Goblin. Peter quickly caught Liz while they swung into the building, landing with a loud thud and roaring.
They saw a mini version of the Red Goblin whom they suspect to be Liz’s and Harry’s son about to be cut down by his own grandfather and quickly intervened, grabbing him from behind and holding him down as Harry aimed the glider he was on straight at Norman.
“You should know better than to use a child for your means. And to kill a child? You’ve really sunk so low, Norman. But it’s not our place to talk. His father wishes to have a word with you.” They said, grinning evilly as they saw Harry ready to aim to launch the glider.
“You should have known better than to get involved with my family, Father!! Using my son, ready to kill him… You’re no longer part of my family! To me and my family, you’re dead!” He screams with fury as he leaps off the glider that flew straight for the Red Goblin grabbing his son and shielding him with his frame.
They leaped out of the way letting the glider run Norman through hoping that it would work and keep him down this time for good.
While the family had their little reunion, Peter quickly joined Venom. Eddie swore under his breath when it didn’t seem to work. Even with the glider plunged into his chest, Norman was still standing on his feet alive and simply ripped the thing out.
“This is all your fault, you damn bug! My life in tatters because of you! And not to mention you, Venom! I could have it all but you just had to intervene and try to stop me alongside this bug! Why team up with him anyways? You’re enemies last I checked.” Norman snarled.
“We have our reasons!”
“Oh? Does that reason happen to be your precious little thing you gave birth to?”
“If you’ve taken him, we’ll rip you apart Norman!” They roared.
“I didn’t! But I wish that I had did! Maybe then I would torture and kill the slithery thing before your very eyes for what you did!”
That did it. With a loud roar full of rage and bloodlust, they rushed at Norman ready to tear out his throat, his guts and limbs. They just wanted him DEAD!
“Venom wait!” Peter chased after them out of the building as Venom chased after the Red Goblin, avoiding his bombs. Norman wanted this to happen. Send Venom into a blood rage so that he wouldn’t see straight. He led them further and further away, away where no help could reach them, where he could kill every single one of Parker’s loved ones.
“Yes, come after me you stupid, hulking thing!” This only baffled Peter. Why wasn’t Norman going after his loved ones? “What’s your game, Norman? I had expected you would be going after my loved ones by now?”
“Ever the smart one unlike this thing. I did go after them. Those little daggers I pierced them with? They would die with just a flick of my finger while agonizing from the sheer pain!”
Peter was horrified. He just hoped Flash had done something to save them all. And he was glad when he saw that it hadn’t worked. “Flash! It’s good seeing you again! What happened to you though?” He says as Flash appeared on the rooftop, barely any Anti-Venom left on him.
“I did my job. I got rid of every single one of those spikes from everyone else. They should be fine now.” Peter thanked him only for the Red Goblin to get the jump on him sending him away with the glider as Norman leaped off ready to kill Flash.
“Damn you! I’m going to kill you and then I’m going to kill Spider and that stupid alien!”
Venom wasn’t having it. Eddie had grown to respect Flash. It was after all he who allowed his darling to become better, to become a hero. They barreled into him knocking them down all the way onto another rooftop.
Enraged, the Red Goblin lunged at them, and they clashed furiously. They got some good hits in but they were no match against the fire he exuded and breathed. One good blast of fire from the Red Goblin’s mouth was enough to make them separate just a bit as they shrieked in pain.
Seeing his chance, the Red Goblin grabbed the symbiote and ripped it away from Eddie tossing it far away just at the edge of the rooftop.
“I’m going to make you pay, Brock! After everything that you did! You couldn’t just let me have my revenge against the bug and his stupid friend! Well, I’ll take you down first! And then that thing of yours and the little slime ball once I’m done with the Spider and his friend!” Norman yelled gripping his hands tight around Eddie’s neck, the strength from the Carnage symbiote nearly breaking his windpipe. Eddie struggled to break free but without the symbiote to help him, it was near impossible.
And then he screamed as Norman plunged his tail into his side pinning him down and then proceeded to shred him apart.
Peter saw from above still being dragged by the glider and Flash still on the rooftop in horror as Norman plunged his clawed hand straight into Eddie’s chest and even let the hand still around Eddie’s throat be exposed just to shock the man with his glove.
“Eddie!!” Both Flash and Peter shouted in horror.
The symbiote shrieked and lunged straight at Norman rage fueling it but Norman was ready and breathed out fire right at it making it shriek in pain from the intense heat.
“N-No! Stop!” Eddie chokes out, punching the Red Goblin in the face just enough to make him stop only for him to redirect more punishment on him.
Flash got hold of the glider and used whatever Anti-Venom to get the glider back to normal and freeing Peter. Grabbing ahold of Flash, Peter swung them to the rooftop. The symbiote quickly joined with Peter after asking for permission in his head which Peter lets it although he didn't like the fact he had to team up with it. Still better than nothing to stop Norman. But just as soon as they bonded, he almost fell immediately under the red haze of rage and bloodlust.
“Kill you! We’ll KILL YOU!”
With a roar, they knocked Norman sky high away from them.
“WE'LL KILL YOU!!”
“Peter stop! Don’t let yourself succumb to the anger. Listen to me, you need to calm down. It needs to calm down. It’s good, don’t let it regress.”
Peter eventually managed to calm down, not letting himself infect the symbiote with more rage. Although the symbiote was still furious, it could think clearly again now. “EDDIE!” They rushed to Eddie who was on his back in the middle of the rooftop.
Laying on his back in a pool of his own blood, Eddie was barely breathing. The gaping wound in his chest, the high voltage from the electric shock he got, and the massive blood loss from his wounds. He was going to die. Not even his darling could fix him knowing how weak it must be from the Red Goblin’s burning attack.
“Eddie! Move Peter, I can heal him!” Flash yells.
Eddie coughs and shakes his head. “Y-You can’t. You don’t have… enough… Anti-Venom.” He chokes out.
“T-Then the symbiote can!” Peter says. Just as he said that, the symbiote goes over to Eddie trying to heal him but it was too weak. The blasts of intense flames from the Red Goblin had left it too weak to heal him completely. The mortal injuries he had sustained would be too much for the symbiote.
Eddie could sense the symbiote getting weaker as it tried to heal him and told it to stop. “Stop, love. Stop. You’ll die too if you keep this up.”
“No Eddie! We can heal you! We can save you!”
“You’ll die too! S-Sleeper. He needs one of us t-to take care of… him… to t-teach him to be g-good.”
“Can’t lose you Eddie! We, we can raise Sleeper together!”
“I’m s-sorry love.” His vision was darkening and getting even more blurry. He turns his head to Flash, “I don’t h-have much time. It’ll t-tell you e-everything. J-Just protect S-Sleeper. Teach him to be good alongside it.” He says, his voice barely a whisper now.
Flash nods, not knowing of this Sleeper but he could sense that Eddie cared for whomever Sleeper is, and tried to keep the tears at bay but failing. Eddie didn’t deserve this. Even Peter didn’t want this. As much as Eddie had been a pain in the ass earlier in his life, he could see he had changed now for the better.
He felt a hand grip his and he knew it was his love’s, his other.
“I love you, darling.” He tells his other as he starts to fade.
“We love you too, Eddie.” It whimpered in his head, its grief palpable through their connection.
They say that your life would flash before your eyes before you die. He didn’t see his entire life but he did see the few images of his happier days. When he was with his darling and their child.
Staring up at the night sky, he saw the stars blinking above when earlier there hadn’t been any stars. It was as if the stars had come out to grieve.
As the light faded from his blue eyes and his hand loosened in the symbiote’s hand, the last thing he heard was the shrieks of grief echoing in his head from his love.
The symbiote shrieked and screamed, pulling away only to see his beloved’s blue eyes turn lifeless, felt his hand loosen its grip, felt his heart stop. They had only been reunited for a few months. Eddie couldn’t die now. Not now!
“EDDIE!”
Its roars of grief echoed throughout the city mixed in with the evil laughter of triumph of the Red Goblin.