Peter had recently interrogated Venom about its home planet. After all, the symbiote homeworld of Klyntar was a critically important location in the grand scheme of the universe. Honestly, Peter had just been hoping this alternate reality was a bit safer. Maybe this universe didn't have a Knull?
Unfortunately, things rarely went exactly as Peter planned.
"The symbiotes come from a distant planet called Klyntar," Peter explained, standing in the center of Nick Fury's office. "At least, that's how it translates. The symbiote race can't actually vocalize until they bond with a highly intelligent host, so before me, it could only convey general concepts or flash fragments of memories into my head."
Peter scratched the back of his neck, deliberately keeping his mask on even inside the Director's secure office at the Triskelion. Because of the mask, Fury couldn't read Peter's micro-expressions to gauge his honesty, but the seasoned spy trusted his gut. What Peter was saying was simply too bizarre to be a lie.
"Symbiotes are an incredibly unique life form," Peter continued. "Outside of their home planet, they have to bond with a higher animal just to maintain physical stability. On Earth, that means they need at least a vertebrate for a stable symbiosis. Otherwise, their molecular structure remains volatile, and they become highly vulnerable to physical damage."
Peter paced a few steps. "On Klyntar, their minds are all linked together through a massive, hive-mind structure. Once they leave the planet, that connection is temporarily severed. Most symbiotes are heavily influenced by the psychology of their hosts, but that permanent imprinting generally only happens if they stay bonded for more than forty-eight hours. For example, if Venom were to leave me right now and bond with someone else, the new host wouldn't just inherit my physical combat skills—Venom might also actively influence their personality to make them act more like me."
Could the alien be used to mass-produce Spider-Men? Nick Fury's tactical mind immediately latched onto the implication. He was already familiar with Reed Richards' preliminary research on the extraterrestrial sample, but hearing the behavioral mechanics directly from the source was invaluable.
"Did it tell you why it came to Earth?" Fury asked, cutting through the biological trivia to get to the tactical heart of the matter.
Peter paused. "Well, Venom itself isn't entirely sure. Its arrival was basically an accident. But the other four symbiotes the military recovered? They didn't crash here by mistake. They were exiled from Klyntar because they broke the absolute, most important law of their species."
Fury leaned forward, resting his elbows on his desk. He gave Peter a single, expectant nod. "Go on."
"Actually—how about I just let Venom speak for itself?" Peter suggested. "It definitely knows the history better than I do."
Instantly, Spider-Man's silhouette shifted. The sleek black suit bubbled and expanded, a wave of viscous, midnight biomatter surging outward. Within seconds, Peter was completely swallowed by a hulking, Hulk-sized monster boasting heavily corded muscles, jagged white eyes, and a terrifying maw filled with razor-sharp teeth.
Venom ducked slightly to avoid scraping its head against the ceiling tiles, then casually dropped down to sit cross-legged on the office floor.
Nick Fury's expression didn't change a single millimeter, though his right hand slipped silently under his desk, resting on a heavy-caliber sidearm. Standing near the door, Cindy Moon flinched, but she forced herself to relax when her Spider-Sense remained completely silent.
Mimicking Peter's earlier gesture, Venom reached up and scratched its massive chin with a clawed finger, its long, serpentine tongue lolling out of its mouth.
"What do you wish to ask us?" Venom's voice was a deep, guttural bass that vibrated the glass windows.
"My primary concern," Fury said, perfectly composed, "is whether you are the vanguard. Are there more alien slimes like you heading toward Earth?"
"The statistical probability is incredibly low," Venom rumbled. "Klyntar is located at the furthest edge of the universe, in the coldest, darkest void, vast distances from your world. It is virtually impossible for a symbiote to drift here naturally. You are safe, so long as you Earthlings do not listen to the exiles and attempt to travel to Klyntar yourselves."
Fury narrowed his single eye, catching the subtle implication. "Are you saying your exiled brethren want to bring humans back to your planet? Why?"
"Because they are fanatics," Venom growled. "They wish to release Knull."
Fury frowned. "What is a Knull?"
"Knull is our creator. Our maker. An ancient god of the dark," Venom explained, the alien's thick, wet accent making the apocalyptic mythology sound strangely casual. "He created the very first iterations of our kind. He enslaved us, stripped us of our individuality, and used us as living weapons to spread his chaos and darkness, conquering world after world."
Fury slowly lowered his hands, resting them flat on his desk. "This Knull... just how powerful is he?"
"We do not know."
"You don't know the threat level of your own god?"
Venom shrugged its massive shoulders honestly. "During Knull's reign, absolutely nothing in the cosmos was a match for him. He had no equals. Therefore, we have no metric to accurately measure his maximum strength."
It was a terrifyingly logical answer. Without a worthy opponent, a power ceiling couldn't be quantified.
"If he was so unstoppable," Fury countered, "then how exactly did your kind defeat him?"
"We did not defeat him. We merely imprisoned him."
"Then tell me how you imprisoned him."
Venom leaned forward, the floorboards groaning under its weight. "Knull invaded a young planet, riding his most powerful, massive symbiote dragon. But that world had a guardian. The guardian struck Knull's dragon with a blinding blast of lightning. The sheer divine power of the lightning severed Knull's psychic connection to the hive mind, leaving his physical body an empty, comatose shell. Our ancestors seized that momentary weakness. They rebelled, swarming over his body by the billions to gain their freedom. They became a living cage around him, forming the very crust and core of a new planet to trap him inside. That cage is Klyntar."
Struck by lightning? Fury's strategic mind clicked the pieces together. "Can you confirm the exact location or name of this planet he invaded?"
Venom shook its head. The psychic shockwave of the lightning had severed the dragon's connection to the hive mind so violently that the symbiote collective had no geographic data on where the battle actually took place.
But Fury didn't need extraterrestrial coordinates. If it had happened on Earth, the identity of this lightning-wielding "guardian" was blindingly obvious. It was Thor. It was a shame the Asgardian prince was rarely on Earth these days, or Fury would have simply called him in for a debriefing on his ancient alien-slaying exploits.
"Let me get this straight," Fury said, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "The four symbiotes the military captured are religious outcasts who want to liberate your imprisoned god. Your planet decided to banish them. So... how did you end up on that ship with them?"
Venom looked down, suddenly appearing incredibly sheepish for a ten-foot-tall cannibalistic monster.
"They were worried they would get hungry during the long journey across the void. They needed rations."
Fury stared blankly. "Excuse me?"
"I am not a very strong fighter among my kind," Venom admitted, its voice dropping into a sulky grumble. "I couldn't beat them. So, I was captured, stuffed into the ship, and brought along as emergency reserve food."
Nick Fury let out a long, heavy sigh. He slowly shook his head, staring at the ceiling as if asking the universe why this was his life. He waved a dismissive hand.
Immediately, the massive monster collapsed inward, shrinking back into the sleek, black fabric of Spider-Man's suit. Peter popped his head out, looking highly amused.
Peter opened his mouth, likely to mention the obvious Thor connection, but Fury held up a hand to stop him.
"Don't. Just... don't," Fury sighed, looking thoroughly exhausted. "I'm going to have Hawkeye give you two a guided tour of the Triskelion. Go look at some jets. I need to sit here alone and seriously process the fact that I just got briefed on an ancient space god by a literal alien packed lunch."
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