Explosions
You are free falling through the air when Eddie’s arm suddenly wraps around your waist from behind you, and a lurch goes through you. A black tendril extends upwards and wraps itself around the railing of a balcony. You swing through the air and crash into the living room of another apartment, and Sentinel intercepts some shards of glass that threaten to scratch you. Eddie lifts himself onto his knees with a groan. Sentinel forms a hard shield in the window and you can hear bullets deflect off of it.
“Are you alright?” you ask Eddie.
“We are fine.” Venom answers, looking at you.
“It’s nice to meet you, Venom.” You say, extending your hand to help them to their feet. They cautiously take your hand and stand.
“Excuse me?!” You hear a voice exclaim behind you “What the hell is going on?!”
You face the people behind you, who are staring at you with wide eyes.
“Umm.. Sorry!” You say, and drag Eddie/Venom out of the apartment by your still joined hands. When you reach the door you feel Sentinel cautiously remove the shield over the window while still stopping any bullets from reaching the people inside. Thank you, you think at Sentinel.
Eventually Eddie takes the lead and you follow him into a side alley.
“That.. was absolutely insane.” Eddie says, staring at his own hands.
“We protected us” Venom says out of Eddie’s mouth.
“Venom, It is good you are finally awake.” Sentinel adds through your own mouth.
“Sentinel. It has been a while.” Venom says by way of greeting.
“Listen Venom, we really need to talk with you about some stuff.” You say.
“You are Sentinel’s host?” Venom asks.
“Yes, I’m y/n” you say.
“Hmmm.” Venom says. They walk in a circle around you, as if assessing you. They lean in close, Eddie’s face only inches from your own. You meet their stare without flinching, and Venom grins. “We like you.” Venom says.
You smile back, and you can sense Sentinel’s relief. Suddenly Venom steps back.
“Okay, that’s great and all, but what about me.” Eddie says suddenly, running a hand through his hair.
“Eddie.. You are a loser.” Venom says matter of factly, and you can’t help but snort.
“Hey!” Eddie exclaims, a frown on his face. Before he can properly retort however, you hear an odd buzz in the air. Looking around, you notice a drone flying towards you. Suddenly you realize it's not slowing down, and you dodge out of the way at the last second. The drone explodes against the nearby brick wall, and both you and Eddie flinch.
“This way!” Eddie yells, and drags you over to a motorcycle.
“Is this yours?!” You exclaim.
“Yeah, get on!” He replies, jumping onto it and gesturing behind him.
You climb onto the bike and feel as Eddie starts the engine with a roar. He speeds into the street, and takes off down the road. You quickly notice more drones following you, along with several black vehicles. As you merge onto a larger street Eddie begins to dodge the traffic around you. Suddenly, the bike launches forward, and you can see that Venom has taken control of Eddie's arms, covering them in black. As shots and explosions ring out behind you Sentinel forms a hard shield, covering both you and Eddie. The drones whip around your head, and you hear Venom's deep voice yell “Duck” as a deep blue tendril yanks your head out of the way of an incoming drone.
Eddie zigzags out of the way of multiple drones that explode on the pavement around you, causing general mayhem. The bike turns a corner, and a single drone pursues you. With nothing to hinder it, it moves closer and closer. Just before it can run into you Sentinel lashes out, causing the drone to explode in midair. You can feel pain flow from them in waves, and alarm fills you.
“Sentinel?!” you yell over the motorcycle, simultaneously reaching out within yourself.
“We are alright.” You hear their voice answer out of your own mouth. “We did not harden ourselves in time, so the explosion burnt us.”
You grimace and run a thumb over your wrist where Sentinel's bracelets still remain. Your own arms are wrapped around Eddie's midsection, and holding on tight.
Eddie yells out when two more drones suddenly appear beside him, and he swerves onto the sidewalk. All you hear is a barked Holy Shit from Eddie as one of the drones slams into a parked car, and the other into an electrical display ahead of you. The flames of the explosion Envelop you, and you can hear Eddie scream in pain. Venom's coating over Eddie's arms soaks back inside him, before covering them again when you clear the flames. Suddenly one of the black Vehicles appears in front of you, but before you can even yell out a black rope lashes out from Eddie's side and attaches itself to a nearby lamp post. The bike tips onto its side as it is swung around the corner. Sentinels blue spreads beneath you, shielding both Eddie, you, and the bike from the pavement.
More black cars appear from around a corner, and you can hear Eddie's muttered just great .
The motorcycle gains speed going up one of San Francisco’s many steep hills.
“Venom!” you scream, horrified, as the top of the hill looms closer.
It is alright. Sentinel says within you. Just as you crest the top of the hill, blue tendrils flow from your arms and wrap around both Eddie and the motorcycle, keeping you firmly in place as you are launched into the sky. You feel weightless for a couple of long, terrifying seconds before the motorcycle slams back into the ground. As the cars continue to chase you, two more appear out of some side streets and slam into your sides. Venom forms a buffer between you and the cars, and Sentinel lashes out, yanking on the steering wheels of the cars and causing them to slam into the buildings nearby.
Eddie turns his head and looks back, a small grin on his face. Suddenly, before either of you can react, another car appears from a side street and slams into the bike, sending both of you flying. You land with a sickening crunch and a scream, your limbs torn and broken around you. You hear a similar grunt from Eddie as he impacts just beside you. You try to take deep breaths through small whimpers of pain.
A car door slams shut, and you can hear a male voice “We got them.”
The man crouches down between you. He has a bald head, and a well trimmed beard.
“You two have been a serious pain up my ass.” The man hisses, looking down at your faces.
“Well-” Eddie says, his voice laced with pain “We try our best.”
We must heal you Sentinel says within you, and you can only barely give your assent through the pain clouding your consciousness.
You gasp in wonder as the pain slowly subsides from each of your limbs. Sentinel stands, and you can see through their eyes as you grow taller and taller. You watch as Venom slowly stands as well, completely enveloping Eddie, with a hand wrapped around the man’s throat. With a shock you realize that Sentinel must have similarly enveloped you. You try to look down at yourself, and Sentinel obliges you. Sentinel's hands are covered in hardened claws with sharp points, and their feet are similarly hardened. You can feel the odd sensation of hardened plates covering their chest and back, as well their forearms.
Made to protect You think in awe, and Sentinel practically preens at your thoughts.
You look at Venom beside you, and realize that Venom has none of the protective hardening Sentinel does.
Venom is incapable of hardening themselves. Sentinel supplies.
Venom has the man from earlier hanging in the air by his throat.
“Eyes, liver, brain. So much to choose from.” Venom says, leaning in towards the man.
A shotgun blast rings out behind you, accompanied by multiple smaller gunshots. Venom and Sentinel spin around almost in tandem, reaching out and grabbing one of the men each. Venom snaps forward almost with fervor, clearly enjoying themselves as they devour the man’s head from his shoulders. Sentinel simply chomps in an almost mechanical action, severing the man’s head from his shoulders and swallowing. You can almost taste metal on your tongue and you try hard not to be sick. As sirens blare in the distance, Venom launches themselves towards the nearby water, and Sentinel follows, jumping in with a loud splash.