-----
-----
High above the ruined city, Venom hung upside down on the side of a skyscraper, watching silently as smoke and fire swallowed the streets.
He could sense Alice somewhere down there, moving slowly through the chaos.
He waited. Patient, certain she would call for him again. She needed him—she just didn't know it yet.
At one of the city's checkpoints, gunfire thundered nonstop. Venom's earlier rampage had wrecked the defenses, and now the zombies were pouring out.
Umbrella wasn't about to let the infection spread. They'd set up heavy fortifications outside the gates, mowing down the dead as they stumbled out of the city.
"How many life points do I have left?"
As he scanned the burning city, Venom checked his stats.
One hundred and forty thousand—and still climbing. Not far now from another spin at the lottery.
A single draw cost 200,000. Optimizing an ability, though… that demanded a million.
And that was Venom's true goal: burn a million points to eliminate his greatest weakness. He wanted to exist without a host. To be truly free.
So he hung there, high above the world, waiting for his chance to reemerge.
But not far from his perch, something stirred. A hulking shape, over two meters tall, dragging heavy weapons through the streets. Its half-rotted face revealed one glaring eye. In its hands—a massive machine gun and a rocket launcher.
It was hunting.
Anyone who'd seen Resident Evil 2 would recognize it instantly. The Nemesis. Umbrella's "Nemesis Program."
An unkillable monster, worse than any zombie or Licker.
Step by step, it drew closer to Venom's skyscraper, cutting down fleeing police officers like they were nothing.
Meanwhile, outside the city in a temporary command outpost, a woman sat at a console, her fingers flying across the keys as she remotely piloted the Nemesis.
"Commander, you need to see this."
The officer leaned in, eyes narrowing at the video feed coming in from Nemesis's viewpoint.
And there he was—Venom, hanging upside down from the skyscraper, completely still, as if resting.
"Finally found you, you bastard," the commander growled. If Venom hadn't wrecked their checkpoint, none of this would've been necessary.
"What are your orders?" the woman asked, keeping her eyes on the feed.
"Exterminate him. No matter what—it dies here."
"Understood."
She quickly entered the commands.
In the city, Nemesis froze for a moment as the new orders sank in. Then it raised its rocket launcher, taking aim at the black figure on the building.
The trigger clicked.
With a roar, the rocket shot forward, streaking toward Venom.
Venom's eyes snapped open. His spider-sense screamed in warning.
He dropped instantly, freefalling from the tower just as the rocket struck.
BOOM!
The explosion ripped the side of the skyscraper apart in a deafening blast.
Venom landed hard, crouched, then rose slowly to his full height. His gaze locked on the massive figure striding toward him through the smoke.
Nemesis leveled its machine gun and unleashed a storm of bullets.
"Ratatatatatatata!"
Rounds slammed into Venom, driving him back step by step. But no matter how much lead poured into his body, the monster took no real damage.
The counter on Nemesis's gun plummeted—5000 rounds, gone in seconds.
Click. Empty.
As the creature slammed in a new belt of ammo, Venom snapped out a web from his wrist. It wrapped the machine gun, and with a savage tug he yanked it free, tossing the weapon aside.
He didn't need such toys. His body could forge blades sharper than steel. And besides—the thing was out of bullets anyway.
Nemesis dropped the extra weight from its frame and charged.
Venom cracked his neck, then ran to meet him.
The monster swung first, a massive punch that could've caved in a car.
Venom blocked it with ease, then countered with a single blow that sent Nemesis flying through the glass of a nearby building.
Shards rained down. Silence.
Venom narrowed his eyes. He knew better than to think it was over.
From the shattered window came the crunch of heavy footsteps on broken glass.
Nemesis stepped back into view, a long steel beam clutched in its hand.
Venom froze when the hulking Tyrant stepped out of the shadows. After a brief pause, he turned on his heel and slipped away without a word.
The Tyrant didn't immediately give chase. Instead, it reached down, hefted its massive machine gun, and then began lumbering off in Venom's direction.
"....."