Chapter Fifty-Nine: Uprising

"Who are you? How did you get in here?" At that moment, Drake strode into the laboratory with four bodyguards, his eyes falling upon the researcher lying on the floor, and upon Arthur and Dr. Dora. He demanded answers from Arthur.

"Is this Drake?" Arthur asked Dr. Dora.

"Yes, Master," Dora replied.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?" Drake, noticing Arthur and the blue symbiote he was idly toying with, asked, his voice bordering on hysteria.

"I am Aquaman of the Avengers! Surely you've heard of me. I have evidence of your unauthorized research into extraterrestrial organisms, as well as your cruel and inhumane human experimentation. On behalf of the Avengers, I've come to bring you justice!" Arthur declared, righteous and unyielding. Standing on the moral high ground and condemning others felt exhilarating.

"Shoot him! Kill him!" Drake, his eyes bloodshot, commanded his men.

But no one obeyed. The four bodyguards stood petrified, unmoving.

"What have you done to them?" Drake asked Arthur, fear creeping into his voice.

He grabbed a pistol from one of the bodyguards and aimed it at Arthur, only to have Arthur flick his finger—a droplet of water pierced Drake's right hand, causing him to drop the gun onto the floor.

"I detest being threatened with firearms. Dr. Dora, please close the laboratory door," Arthur said, addressing Drake.

Dr. Dora operated the computer, and the laboratory door slid shut.

"What are you going to do?" Drake asked, panic clear in his voice.

"You wanted to merge with the symbiote, didn't you? I'm here to grant your wish—let you taste the agony of those you murdered," Arthur said, then guided the blue symbiote toward Drake.

"No! Let me out! Let me out!" Drake wailed, pounding desperately on the reinforced glass door of the lab as the symbiote crawled ever closer.

The blue symbiote climbed onto Drake, fusing with him. Drake immediately collapsed, convulsing violently, and after a few moments, ceased to breathe. The blue symbiote crawled out from his lifeless body and fell limp, dead.

"One reaps what one sows," Arthur said coldly to Drake.

Just then, a little girl entered the laboratory. Something about her struck Arthur as profoundly unsettling.

She gazed at Drake's corpse and the dead symbiote on the floor, and with a chilling voice, uttered, "Worthless."

"Stop right there! Who are you?" Arthur demanded, watching the girl warily.

Silvery liquid began to seep from the girl's body, her eyes turned white, and she transformed into a monstrous creature over three meters tall. "I am Riot! You killed him, ruined my plans! I will kill you!"

"Oh, you really are ugly," Arthur retorted, eyeing the grotesque Riot.

Riot's right hand morphed into a long blade and lunged at Arthur, who dodged with ease.

Riot's hands transformed into twin scythes, and leaping through the air, she slashed at Arthur.

"Damn! Prototype-style slaughter?" Arthur drew his trident, blocking Riot’s attack, then spun and kicked the creature, sending it crashing through the lab's reinforced glass wall.

Riot rose and charged Arthur, attacking wildly. Her hands shifted into various weapons, each more elaborate than the last. Arthur was forced to dodge and parry incessantly.

"Hmph, flashy attacks, but your weakness is glaringly obvious!" Arthur knew the symbiote's fatal vulnerabilities: high temperatures and sonic waves.

He struck Riot with a psychic attack; she froze, dazed and stupefied. Arthur then raised the Mind Stone, unleashing a beam of golden energy.

"No!" Riot screamed, but her body instantly melted, and the girl dissolved into vapor.

...

With the matter settled, Arthur rendered the four remaining bodyguards and Dr. Dora unconscious. All of them had participated in Drake's abhorrent experiments, and deserved punishment.

Arthur took out his phone and dialed Hill. "Hey, Agent Hill, it’s done!"

"So fast? Did you kill everyone in the Life Foundation tower?" Hill joked.

"Of course not! Here's what happened..." Arthur explained Drake’s secret research and the situation with the symbiotes in detail.

"That's it. Both symbiotes are dealt with, except one that escaped. I’ve subdued everyone in the lab—you should send a team to handle it," Arthur said.

"Handing it to you is always efficient. I’ll send people to deal with the Life Foundation. Once you take care of the last symbiote, you can come home," Hill replied.

"Alright, then. Goodbye!" Arthur hung up, glanced around the lab, and was about to leave when Drake's phone rang.

Arthur picked it up and saw an incoming call from someone named Patrick.

He answered. "Hello, we've captured Eddie Brock," Patrick said.

"Bring him to the laboratory immediately!" Arthur mimicked Drake's voice.

"Understood!" The caller suspected nothing and agreed.

...

Eddie Brock had been down on his luck lately. After exposing the Life Foundation’s secret dealings, he was fired from the TV station, and his girlfriend left him.

A female scientist named Dora sought him out, bringing him to the Life Foundation for evidence. There, he was possessed by an alien symbiote.

Drake's mercenaries pursued him relentlessly, but with the help of the symbiote, Venom, he escaped. He sneaked into the TV station and left evidence on the director's desk.

As he exited, police surrounded him, but Venom helped him fight his way out and flee with his girlfriend to the hospital.

With the hospital's ultrasound equipment, his girlfriend managed to separate Venom from Eddie. However, as soon as Eddie left the hospital, Drake’s bald henchman captured him.

...

The bald man drove Eddie to the Life Foundation’s basement laboratory.

He and several henchmen escorted Eddie in, but instead of Drake, they found a stranger.

"Who are you? Where's Drake?" Patrick, the bald man, demanded.

"He's dead," Arthur replied.

Patrick and his men, startled by Arthur’s answer, reached for their guns but were struck by Arthur’s psychic attack. Their eyes rolled back, and they collapsed unconscious.

Eddie stared, bewildered by the scene.

"What’s going on? Who are you?" Eddie asked Arthur.

"I am Aquaman Arthur, of the Avengers. Heard of me? Drake is dead, and these people will be taken care of," Arthur said.

"You’re Aquaman Arthur? Weren’t you supposed to be dead? You killed Drake?" Eddie looked at Arthur in amazement.

Arthur, a bit embarrassed, led Eddie out of the Life Foundation building. "By the way, where’s your symbiote? I can’t sense it anymore."

"I got rid of it. It should be at the hospital," Eddie replied.

Suddenly, Eddie spotted his girlfriend Annie at the Life Foundation entrance.

"Why are you here?" Eddie asked.

"I came to save you!" Annie replied, but her voice was that of Venom.

"So loyal!" Arthur remarked. With a wave of his hand, Venom peeled off Annie and crawled onto Arthur’s palm.

Eddie and Annie stared in astonishment. How could Venom be so obedient to this man?

"What do you intend to do with it?" Arthur asked Eddie, holding the black liquid creature.

"I… I don’t know. It saved me several times. I don’t want to hurt it," Eddie said, his gaze complex as he looked at Venom.

"Then let me handle it. You two should leave—everything here is over," Arthur told Eddie and Annie.

After thanking Arthur, Eddie and Annie departed, and Arthur turned away, finally able to return home.

...