Venom x Multiverse [6]

The grotesque sound of flesh being devoured finally ceased, replaced by the faint echo of footsteps resonating through the dark corridor.

The group tensed, rifles raised and aimed at the source of the noise, their fingers hovering over triggers.

From the shadows emerged a towering figure, its outline illuminated as it stepped into the dim light. A sleek, black-clad monstrosity—Venom.

The sight of him froze them in their tracks. The inhuman form, the gleaming fangs, the sheer size—it was unlike anything they had ever seen.

“What the hell is that thing?” one soldier whispered, panic creeping into his voice.

The captain didn’t hesitate. “Open fire!”

Bullets ripped through the air, a relentless barrage aimed directly at the monstrous intruder.

But Venom moved with impossible agility, his massive frame weaving effortlessly between the hail of bullets. His movements defied physics, leaping off walls and dashing at inhuman speed toward the group.

In the blink of an eye, Venom was among them. With a single leap, he soared into the air, his massive claws extended, his jaws parting to reveal rows of razor-sharp teeth.

“Scatter!” the captain yelled, diving to the side just as Venom landed.

The others followed suit, scrambling to evade the deadly assault.

But one man froze.

Spence, too paralyzed by fear, stood rooted to the spot.

Venom’s gleaming eyes locked onto him, a predator zeroing in on its prey. Without hesitation, Venom lunged, his claws slicing through Spence’s chest in one fluid motion. Lifting the man’s twitching body effortlessly, he watched as blood spilled from his mouth before tossing the lifeless corpse to the ground.

Venom turned, scanning the room. The others had scattered, taking cover behind the debris. He didn’t pursue.

There was no need.

With a final glance at the panicked group, Venom turned and walked toward the central control room.

His target wasn’t them—it was the Red Queen, the AI system keeping the Hive locked down.

His plan was simple: shut her down, release the horde of zombies trapped within, and let chaos reign.

“Let’s see what happens when the world burns.”

Though the system required Venom to kill targets personally to harvest Life Points, Dante couldn’t resist testing the limits of its mechanics. He wanted to see if letting the chaos unfold on its own would still yield results.

Why was he so eager to cause destruction? Even Dante wasn’t sure. But deep down, something primal told him: this was going to be fun.

Venom moved quickly, tearing through another reinforced door with ease. Behind it lay a narrow control room, situated just outside the infamous laser hallway—a space well-known to anyone familiar with the Hive’s horrors.

The dim room was filled with computers and monitors, but Dante ignored them. His focus was on the metal gate blocking the path ahead.

Planting his hands firmly on the gate, Venom gave it a powerful yank, ripping the thick metal door from its hinges and tossing it aside.

What lay beyond sent a flicker of amusement through him—a laser corridor, the infamous “death trap” of the Hive.

Rows of high-energy lasers, controlled by the Red Queen, awaited those who dared to cross. Their deadly beams could slice through flesh, bone, and steel alike.

Dante tossed the heavy metal gate aside, his gaze locking onto the infamous laser corridor ahead. The sterile, high-tech tunnel was bathed in a faint, icy glow, the reflective glass walls giving it a lifeless sheen.

He hesitated for a moment, glancing down at his own body.

“Can I withstand this?”

The truth was, he didn’t know. Dante had never tested his symbiote’s resilience against high-energy lasers. The thought of failure lingered in his mind, especially considering the history of this corridor.

He remembered the gruesome scenes from the Resident Evil series—elite operatives, cut to ribbons in this very passage. Even the Tyrant, a bioengineered monstrosity that overwhelmed Alice in the third film, had been reduced to bloody chunks by the lasers.

His fist tightened as he shook off the doubts.

“No point standing around.”

Without another thought, Dante stepped into the corridor, his movements deliberate yet cautious.

The tunnel exuded an oppressive silence. The faint glow of the glass walls added to the eerie atmosphere, making every step feel heavier. His Spider Sense flared, warning him incessantly of danger.

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” he muttered to himself, ignoring the mental alarms.

Suddenly, the entire corridor lit up, blindingly bright, as though the walls themselves had turned into floodlights.

Dante stopped in his tracks, squinting against the sudden illumination.

“Here we go.”

In the central control room, the Red Queen’s systems activated, and the AI’s voice declared coldly:

“Initiating defense protocol.”

A split second later, the first laser beam materialized, slicing through the corridor with blistering speed.

Dante reacted instinctively, leaping upward and clinging to the ceiling, the laser narrowly missing him.

Another beam followed, then another, each one faster and more precise than the last.

Dante twisted and turned, his enhanced agility allowing him to narrowly evade each attack. He leapt from wall to wall, his movements a blur, the lasers slicing through the space he had occupied just moments before.

But then, the final trap appeared.

A grid of lasers filled the corridor, a deadly lattice of energy cutting off any chance of escape. The beams approached rapidly, leaving no room for dodging.

“Damn it!”

Dante’s eyes darted to the side. With no other options, he reared back and punched the wall with all his strength.

The impact was explosive, sending chunks of reinforced concrete flying as a large hole opened in the wall. Without hesitation, he dove through it, the laser grid scorching the air just behind him.

Emerging from the hole, Dante dusted himself off and approached the control room door. With a single, forceful strike, he shattered the door, stepping inside.

The control room was dimly lit, save for the soft glow of monitors. In the center, a projection device flickered to life, casting the image of a red holographic girl into the room.

Her voice was childlike but sharp, echoing through the space with authority.

“Leave. Leave now!”

Dante tilted his head, studying the projection.

“Impressive. An AI that feels alive.”

He had always found the Red Queen fascinating—a marvel of engineering, capable of independent thought and reasoning. If he didn’t know better, he might have mistaken her for a real human.

And she wasn’t the only one. Her sister AI, the White Queen, was just as advanced.

“For a world overrun by chaos, they sure knew how to build wonders,” Dante mused.

But Dante wasn’t here to admire the technology. His goal was clear—shut down the Red Queen and release the biohazards contained within the Hive. Chaos was his endgame, and to achieve it, he needed the AI’s main control board.

Stepping forward, Dante placed his hand against the central console. His symbiote armor rippled, morphing into liquid as tendrils extended into the machine.

The tendrils snaked their way through the system, infiltrating its network like living code.

“I won’t allow this. Shutting me down will disable the primary power grid.”

The Red Queen’s voice carried a warning, but Dante’s grin widened.

“That’s the idea.”