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Dante observed the horde of symbiotes writhing like a living ocean. His gaze tracked upward to the chopper broadcasting everything live and the sun still casting a pale sunlight. The sun would set in an hour or maybe eighty minutes. He had to finish them all before the sun went down, or he would be left with no way to replenish his solar radiation reserves.
So he had to take down an average of thirteen symbiote hosts per minute.
It seemed quite plausible.
Natasha's chains clinked as she shifted her stance, the Hellfire around them burning in agitation. She turned her flaming skull toward Laura, who stood rigid beside them, fists still clenched from the earlier skirmish.
"It's fine if you wanna leave. You have no obligation to fight here."
"I do." Laura wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. "If he dies, I'll be forced to go back."
Dante couldn't help but chuckle at her brutally honest answer. It was so like Laura to be fixated on one thing.
He turned to Captain Yuri Watanabe, whose face had been drained of color. The officers behind her looked equally shaken. Some were openly staring at the mass of monsters, others kept glancing back toward the bridge as if wondering escape was a better option.
Sometimes, even the most elite needed proper leadership under dire circumstances.
"Evacuate everyone from this island," Dante said. He kept his tone level, neither pleading nor commanding. "We'll take care of these monsters."
Yuri just stared at him for a moment, then her expression hardened. She whirled sharply toward her squad.
"What are you waiting for?!" Yuri roared. "Move your asses! I want residential blocks cleared first. Go, go, GO!"
The paralyzed officers jolted into motion. Some sprinted toward their patrol cars, others grabbed radios and started barking evacuation orders. The sudden surge of activity seemed to break the spell of fear that had gripped them.
"Natasha, go with them," Dante said without looking at her. "I'll deal with this."
He wasn't being heroic. In fact, it was quite the opposite. Natasha's Hellfire would obliterate symbiotes if he wasn't there to collect them. He needed them to recover Venom's strength.
Natasha grabbed his collar and forced him to look into her eyes, a pair of small flames in hollow sockets gazing right into his soul. "Work with me. I weaken them off, you absorb them."
To see right through him under such circumstances was what separated Natasha from the rest.
"I don't answer to you or SHIELD." He stared into her eyes. Penance Stare was quite useless if he had nothing to be guilty about. "Don't order me around again."
As much as he wanted to make his life easier, he wasn't going to let anyone walk all over him. Natasha, right now, was quite blatantly disrespecting him, even though he was trying to help her.
Natasha loosened her grip and patted the fabric, staring at him. "I'll weaken symbiotes so you can absorb them. Can we cooperate on this?"
"That's how you treat people," he said with a chuckle. "Are you sure, though? You won't be able to escape the bride's allegations after this."
She groaned, "I'll worry about that later. Focus up."
Gwen—Ghost Spider—stirred beside them. She had been unnaturally quiet until now. The teardrop lenses of her mask narrowed as she focused on Laura.
"You—Laura, right?"
"What?" Laura asked, blunt as always. "Do I know you?"
"Um… Can you help out without killing anyone? You don't wanna make this broadcast X-rated." Gwen's voice had that forced cheerfulness. "Kids might be watching us."
Dante was happy to see Gwen's quippy side back. She had let rage consume her earlier. But when a real crisis arose, her heroic instincts kicked back in. Her father had suffered to protect this place. She wouldn't let that sacrifice mean nothing.
Laura stared down at her hands, at the four adamantium claws. Each blade was razor-sharp and unbreakable, designed for the purpose of killing. The weaker symbiotes wouldn't stand a chance as she could slice through them like paper.
But that was the problem.
It wasn't that she was squeamish about lethal force. She could only kill them with her claws.
Dante saw the conflict play across her face and communicated with Venom.
"Give me a symbiote for her."
"I can't," Venom replied. "All absorbed into me."
He had thought of giving her base stats boost through the symbiote, but that option was off the board, at least for the moment.
He stepped closer and rested a hand on her shoulder. "I'll take you, but you have to listen to my orders."
She nodded and stepped closer, allowing him to hold her in his arms.
"Ghost Spider," he said as he fired a thick black tendril toward a streetlight at the dock's edge that latched on with a wet thwack. "I'll leave the evac to you."
"Hey! Wait, don't just…"
Gwen called out from behind, but he had already slingshotted himself. He was thinking of occupying the bow deck area to only worry about enemies from one side. Then again, he was too durable for these symbiotes. Better to fight and absorb as many as possible at a time.
He landed right on the top floor of the cruise, right in the middle of the horde. The more attention he garnered, the more time Gwen and Yuri would have to clear the island.
The boats steered to the cruise's direction, as he had expected, and all symbiotes started rushing to get him.
Laura left his arms and positioned herself beside him. Natasha wasn't as mobile as him. She had to use brute force to leap from the edge and reach the cruise. And she did so with grace.
The three stood in the middle.
For one perfect second, nobody moved.
Then the horde shrieked, a hundred voices screaming in unison, a sound that would've terrified any weakhearted.
'Elixir's link.'
[Permission acquired.]
[Level 4 Resonance Link created.]
[New abilities added to Administrator's Archive (3)]
The first wave approached like a black tsunami.
He smashed two symbiote heads into each other. Their symbiote matter converged and rushed up his arm, becoming one with Venom. What's left were two unconscious young men.
"Laura, get them to safety."
Laura grabbed both men and leaped to the side, putting the men in the clear corner. The symbiotes' claws came at her from every side. Then a Hellfire-covered chain swept a bunch of them away. Laura's slender figure slipped through with just one scratch at her face, which healed instantly.
She got into position to cover his back and released her claws. "Let me go lethal."
"No." He denied firmly as he absorbed another two. "You aren't a monster."
Natasha cleared a three meter area with a swipe of her chain. "He's right."
She groaned, putting her claws back again. This time, she didn't need to be told about fetching the unconscious hosts. She grabbed them before they were trampled under the symbiotes and got them to a safe corner.
Dante engaged with the horde once again. As much as he wanted to use a weapon, using his fists was the best option. It allowed him to easily absorb them and reduce their numbers.
Killing them was the easiest option, of course. He had the brute power to insta-kill everyone with Death's powers.
'It's not worth it.'
Besides, exposing that level of power would put a target on his back. Now that he had grown somewhat strong on his own, Death's link was better kept as a trump card against the stronger enemies.
So, he optimized his body for defense and strength at the cost of mobility.
Natasha wasn't the type to stand still while he acted. She kicked the symbiote in the lead. The graceful kick landed with a boom and swept the entire horde of one side with it, throwing them off into the river.
More symbiotes rushed up from lower decks. Natasha dashed into the flock, wrapped a bunch of three symbiotes under her chain, and hurled them at him.
"Catch."
He caught two out of the air and slammed them on the deck. Laura grabbed the last one's arm and grappled it to the floor. He quickly absorbed the three weakened symbiotes after exposure to Hellfire. Symbiotes converged at him from behind. He turned around, charging his fist with a burst of solar radiation power.
The closest symbiote was lunging with its sharp teeth out, ready to bite him. His fist smashed into the symbiote's face with the power Fā Jìn (Explosive Force Release) and sent it flying. A cascade of black shadows was blown back.
The sight wasn't that different from what Natasha had achieved.
"You had a reason for your confidence," Natasha complimented, hurling another pair of symbiotes at him. "Laura, you're doing great. Keep it up."
He ripped the symbiotes apart and let Venom devour them, letting Laura take them away.
"Venom, make a symbiote for Laura."
"It'll weaken us," Venom argued, hesitant to cooperate. "Are you sure?"
"Do it."
The symbiote matter around his chest rippled and a small piece fell in his hand. He kicked an annoying symbiote away and slapped the newly born symbiote on Laura's shoulder. "Bond with this. It'll make you stronger."
Her minute hesitation disappeared when she heard the word 'stronger.' The symbiote covered her. Her symbiote suit appeared sleek, completely covering her except for her hair and face.
'Just like Felicia.'
Laura perhaps didn't want her face to appear monstrous, so the symbiote created a suit accordingly.
"Feels weird," she muttered, then caught a lunging symbiote by its throat mid-leap. The strength boost was immediate and obvious. She twisted and hurled it toward Dante without apparent effort. "But stronger. Way stronger."
"Told you." Dante caught the airborne symbiote, absorbed it in a flash of black tendrils, and immediately pivoted to punch another attacker. "Now keep up."
Natasha's chain whipped through the air, wrapping around four symbiotes clustered near the ship's railing. "Incoming left side!"
"Got it!" Dante shifted his weight, already moving before she'd finished speaking.
Natasha yanked the chain back toward herself. The Hellfire seared into the symbiotes' biomass, making them shriek and writhe. Their hosts screamed in agony as they were burned on a spiritual level. She released the chain's hold and the momentum carried all four directly into Dante's path.
He caught the first two by their heads and let Venom strip away the weakened symbiotes before they hit the deck. The third he caught with a rising knee strike that lifted it off the ground. The fourth got an elbow to the spine that dropped it instantly.
Venom consumed all four symbiotes in rapid succession. The hosts collapsed, unconscious but breathing.
"Laura!"
"On it!" She was already moving, her new symbiote-enhanced speed letting her blur past three attacking shadows. She grabbed two unconscious hosts by their collars and dragged them towards the growing pile in the corner, then dashed back for the other two. A symbiote tried to intercept her. She ducked under its claws and kept running.
"Great work," Natasha called out, satisfied. She pivoted, scanning the symbiotes still pouring from the ship's interior. "I should've ordered something in the restaurant."
"I'll treat you after this," he said and smashed his fist in a symbiote.
A shockwave rippled outward in a golden pulse and staggered every symbiote within a ten-foot radius. They reeled, their biomass disrupted by the solar energy Venom had learned to tolerate but other symbiotes couldn't handle.
'Solar radiation can also be used in place of chi.'
He still had a long way to go in mastering his Helio Reactor.
Natasha didn't waste the opening he had made. Her chain swept in a wide arc, catching six stumbling symbiotes and dragging them into a tight cluster. "Dante!"
"Yup." He launched himself forward, and both fists hammered down on the clustered group. The impact cratered the wooden deck. Venom eagerly absorbed all six weakened symbiotes, leaving their hosts in a groaning pile.
Laura was there before he could call her. The symbiote suit was learning her preferences as it formed handholds on her palms for better grip and redistributed mass to her legs for explosive bursts of speed.
A particularly large symbiote—its host had to be at least six-foot-seven and built like a tank—charged Dante from his blind spot, its claws extended and jaw distended impossibly wide.
Natasha's chain snapped out like a snake and yanked the giant symbiote off its feet. It skidded across the deck and slammed into a support beam with a loud sound.
Dante stomped on its back, pinning it, and absorbed the symbiote in one smooth pull. The host—a dockworker by the looks of his torn uniform—went limp. "Another one for you, Laura."
"Stop yelling my name!" Laura shot back, but the feral grin on her face betrayed her mood. Physical drills were her bread and butter, the area where she excelled at. She grabbed the unconscious dockworker by his arm and dragged him toward safety. "I know what to do!"
"Then do it faster!" Natasha replied, dodging a swipe from a symbiote's clawed hand. She caught its wrist, twisted until something popped, and kicked it toward Dante. "Gift wrapped for you!"
He caught it out of the air and absorbed it. "Appreciate the delivery service."
"You're welcome. Now catch—" She spun, her chain wrapping around three more symbiotes in a single flowing motion. "—these!"
Dante barely had time to brace before all three came flying at him. He caught one with each hand and headbutted the third, the impact echoing dully. Venom stripped all three symbiotes away, and Laura was already in motion to collect the hosts.
Without anyone creating a command chain, they were finding a rhythm. Natasha weakened the symbiotes and called out positions. Dante absorbed and adjusted. Laura stopped waiting for orders and just moved on instinct, reading the battlefield to cross the distance as efficiently as possible.
"That was the hundredth!" Laura shouted, depositing another pair of hosts. "Is there no end to them?"
As though answering her question, a new fresh group of symbiotes erupted from a room. Natasha's chain whistled through the air in a fiery arc and carved a burning path through the front ranks. Hellfire enveloped the symbiote flesh. The creatures shrieked. Some dropped to their knees and others tumbled into their allies, creating a domino of chaos.
Dante plunged into the opening she had carved, shouldering aside a staggering host. Venom's tendrils snatched the destabilized symbiote right off the host and pulled it into his armor.
"Recovering quickly," Venom hummed. "Soon, I will be whole."
Natasha launched her chain toward the upper deck where more symbiotes were emerging from below. "Watch out for that rooftop!"
Dante looked up. At least twenty symbiotes were crawling along the ship's upper structures like spiders, unwilling to face Natasha and Dante head-on. They were starting to fear them on an instinctual level just like Felicia and Walter's symbiotes.
"Oh, that's just creepy," Laura muttered. "I wanna kill them."
"Patience." He rested his hand around her shoulder. "Natasha, I'll leave them to you."
Natasha swung her chain in a wide overhead arc, the Hellfire blazing brighter and hotter. The chain extended far longer than it should have been physically possible and wrapped around the upper deck's support beam.
Then she pulled. The metal beam twisted and snapped. Twenty symbiotes lost their footing all at once and came tumbling down in a shrieking mass of black and white.
Natasha called out cheerfully, "Big prize!"
"Just brilliant!" He positioned himself under the falling swarm and leaped through the swarm. "Laura, be ready."
Black tendrils erupted from his entire body and pierced into the symbiotes. The Hellfire exposure allowed him to easily separate their connection and absorb.
Venom consumed them all in a feeding frenzy, and Dante felt the surge of power. His strength and durability spiked from Venom's growth.
The twenty hosts collapsed in a heap around him, unconscious but alive.
"That's a lot," Laura grumbled, still moving to do her work. A thought came over her as she stopped before the twenty people. Black tendrils came out of her and swept under the people, forming a platform that lifted them all up.
"Took a lot of energy," Laura muttered. dragging all twenty people toward the safe zone in one go. "It's good I had those pancakes."
"I'll get you more later. How are you liking the suit?"
"It's good," she replied. "Can I keep it?"
"NO," Venom sent the thought to his mind. "I'm weaker without it."
Dante ignored Venom. "Yeah, sure."
Venom could only groan in his mind, "I will be weaker."
Natasha landed beside Dante and glanced at him, those hollow flame-filled sockets locking on him. "You can still fight, right?"
"Of course." Dante rolled his shoulders, feeling Venom settle back into layered armor. "I'm going to take every single one."
"After this—" Natasha's chain burned brighter. "Mind telling me why you can absorb them."
Dante conjured a three-meter-wide shield with intricate rotating patterns and pinned a dozen symbiotes against a wall. Natasha's Hellfire poured upon them, raising screams of agony. More easy pickings for him.
"In exchange, you tell me how you met that Spirit of Vengeance."
Natasha stared at his back. "Forget about it then."
"Your loss."
He jumped on the upper deck and noticed the boats had converged on the cruise, and symbiotes kept pouring in. Only one boat was docked near the island. Gwen was powerful, but she wouldn't be able to deal with a group of symbiotes without his help.
'Should I send Laura?'
A glint on the bridge caught his eyes. A SUV accelerated through the bridge—it stood out just because it was entering the island rather than leaving. A fancy motorbike trailed behind this car, driven by the Russian giant.
'They took their sweet time.'
***
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