15656/Symbiote Riot

Symbiote Riot
Date of Scene:	19 August 2023
Location:	Staten Island
Synopsis:	Venom has a Supermarket Sweep. Spidey and Mania save the day. Ish.
Cast of Characters:	Eddie Brock, Peter Parker, Andi Benton

---

Eddie Brock has posed:
Eddie Brock hasn't been doing well. He was already on an anti-social tear. His work had dried up recently, along with his ability to feel creative or comfortable at a keyboard or behind a camera. None of it mattered, none of it made a difference. He was ruined, regardless, he'd never bee able to make a good living again, why bother?

The rage has boiled in him slowly. Then Carnage distracted him for a time, but his reign of terror as ended by others and his foul spawn has been locked away once again instead of being EXTERMINATED properly like the piece of disgusting refuse it is. IT SHOULD DROWN IN ITS OWN BILE THE STINKING ROTTEN--

Eddie stumbles a moment and knocks down a big stack of paper towels. No real harm done, but there's this kid. Probably about thirteen or fourteen, wearing a shirt with a Japanese cartoon robot on it. He just points and laughs, "Stupid!" he says, the spike-haired little creep.

And Eddie just shuts down. Stupid thing, just a trigger, from those bad old bullied days of struggle in school before he got it together and now he's nohting just a wreck just a...

And then Eddie's gone, sleeping in his own head, protected, rested. Leaving Venom and Venom alone to play.

Eddie's jaws stretch to show massive fangs as the darkness swallows the rest of him, inky black darkness erupting from his skin like volcanic magma, swallowing him up entirely as he grows and twists, massive and muscular, and a serpentine tongue drops from between those razored fangs.

"WHO YOU CALLING STUPID...STUPID?"

Screaming definitely ensues, along with a violent attempt to evacuate and head towards the exits. The kid probably needs new pants as he runs away. Venom begins to lash out, knocking over shelves and making them tumble like dominoes.

Peter Parker has posed:
Spidey's sitting on a rooftop with lunch in his lap. A little treat; he'd gone and gotten paid this week and bought not one, but *two* entrees from Chang's House of Noodles. Box cracked open, fork out, mask up, Peter spools up a big bite of chow mein and is just about to eat it when--

"<Venom sighting out on Staten Island,>" comes the call over the police scanner. "<Social media's got pictures of him trashing a 7/11.>"

"Oh, Eddie, c'mon," Peter moans. He starts packing his food up fast and shoves the containers into his backpack, then launches forward off the building in free-fall. He twists in midair to shoulder the pack, falling backwards, then aims above his head and casts out a webline to arrest his momentum. He goes flying down the street, making good speed.

"<Lucky I was on this side of the city, I can take the call,>" Peter says over the Spider-Net. "<Andi, any chance you around? Venom always liked you better than me.>"

Andi Benton has posed:
It was difficult to tell what was going on with Eddie/Venom most of the time. Andi/Mania still weren't exactly on /friendly/ terms with the other symbiote bond, but it was something better than adversarial, better than whatever the deal is with Spider-Man.

Speaking of, she was still figuring out the whole matter of him having been someone else for the past year or so, with Peter off in another dimension or reality or whatever he said happened. And here she thought being bonded to an alien entity was about as strange as it could get.

The call that comes through the connection, which is just about always 'up' in some way just in case of problems like this, snaps her out of whatever daydreaming she's doing while scarfing down some food in the area. Staten Island isn't too far from home in Happy Harbor, and there are some good places there to grab a bite - a conventional one - of food.

"<Oh, great. But to be fair, that doesn't take much. On our way.>" comes the response a few seconds later. It also doesn't take much to pinpoint the location after matching up the possible spots against the reports coming out. People running away from the convenience store are usually a sign.

Mania swings in, much like the one who initially trained her, until she's keeping pace with him. "He's probably going to think we're trying to stop him like Carnage, you know," she says. Ever since that whole thing was resolved, the dual voice has sounded even more in unison, even...relaxed.

Eddie Brock has posed:
Venom is on a rampage, definitely, although he's definitely done worse. Mostly, he's just doing property damage. He starts flinging melons here and there. He starts chugging all of the milk in the dairy section, just laughing maniacally as it pours over him like beer on Stone Cold Steve Austin.

"HELL YEAH!" Venom cackles.

But for all that dark mirth, there is mostly rage here as Venom scatters citizens in front of him and starts bending and thrashing all of the shopping carts around.

"THE PRICES HERE ARE TERRIBLE!" Venom snarls. "YOU'RE TAKING ADVANTAGE OF PEOPLE. YOU PEOPLE WANT JUSTICE? I'M GONNA EAT THE ASSISTANT MANAGER'S HEAD HOW'S THAT FOR JUSTICE?"

Peter Parker has posed:
Spider-Man listens carefully to Andi's thoughts, and nods agreement with her theory. "Better than my plan," he admits. "Mostly because I didn't have a plan in mind. I was just gonna wing it. I feel much better letting *you* wing it," he tells Andi with a cheerful tone. "So if it all goes tits up, it's on you, and I'm just a hapless bystander to your leadership!"

The two web-slingers move like birds in flight, each taking their own path but never unaware of the intentions of their wingman. It takes just a few minutes to get to the shopette; Spidey swings in low and hits the ground with a backflip and a four-point sudden stop, fingers splaying out for leverage.

"Hey Venom!" Peter calls, cupping his hand to his mouth. "Publisher's Clearinghouse, and you've been selected as our next grand prize winner!"

Andi Benton has posed:
"We didn't agree to that. You're supposed to be the big hero," Mania answers, the shapes of those expressive yet all-white eyes narrowing.

<<Mania>> What does he mean by 'tits up,' Andi?
<<Andi>> Not now. This is /so/ not the time.

Ahh, internal conversations.

When he lands more around the front of the place, near the entrance, she carries along to the rooftop so she can sneak her way around back and get inside via an alternate path. Why yes, she'll let him draw Venom's attention first.

Eddie Brock has posed:
Venom is for once fairly united, Eddie quiescent and lost in a sea of self-loathing beneath the skin of the predator.

"SPIDER-MAN. YOU SMELL...TASTY AS EVER," Venom laughs. "YOU HEARD WE WERE IN A BAD MOOD AND WANTED TO COME GIVE US A HUG? OR HAVE YOU DECIDED IT'S OPEN SEASON ON SYMBIOTES?" Venom clacks his teeth together in an eerie rattle, then darts his tongue out like a serpentine whip. When Spidey undoubtedly dodges, Venom will hook one of those shopping carts and fling it at the webslinger!

Peter Parker has posed:
"Woah!" Spider-Man cartwheels sideways at the lash of that barbed tongue, barely avoiding a line of Venom-spittle. When the shopping cart gets whipped at him he drops flat as a pancake, chest touching the floor and fingers and toes splayed wide out as he can go.

Despite the lack of leverage from the awkward position he pops off the floor and into a spinning sideways spiral. Mid-air he casts a webshot at Venom's right foot and it *splats* against the ground.

"C'mon Eddie, don't be like this," Spidey says. "This isn't you. Let's get a churro or something, talk it out. Somewhere without innocent bystanders," he suggests. The snappy line of patter is not meant to so much to placate Venom as it is to get Mania time to get in position... "Or hey, we can go throw the old pigskin around. Well, you can throw it, I'll try to catch it. Be just like high school all over again, whattyasay?"

Andi Benton has posed:
<<Mania>> He does love to talk.
<<Andi>> I think it's how he gets others to screw up.

The banter from Spider-Man, witty or not, doesn't escape notice. Making it the rest of the way inside, Mania takes note of the situation from slightly behind a display. Being of considerably smaller stature than Venom himself, it's easier to stay out of sight in times like this. Peering around the corner of it for a better look, she motions to the clerk to approach, pointing toward that back door.

Instead, he panics. "Another one! No! Do not eat me, I beg you! Just let me be!"

A clawed hand goes up to rub at Mania's face before she shifts focus back to Venom. "And to think all he had to do was sneak out quietly," she mutters.

Eddie Brock has posed:
"EDDIE ISN'T HERE RIGHT NOW, SPIDER. I AM VENOM."

He is clearly totally distracted by Spidey's presence at the moment, focused entirely on his nemesis at the moment, "YOU ARE TOO RIGHTEOUS TO BE A GOOD HOST. EDDIE IS WRONG TO FEAR YOU. YOU ARE SUCCULENT, YES, BUT...DISGUSTINGLY MORAL."

Venom is about to pounce on Spider-Man (or at least attempt to do so) only for Mania's presence to be given away by the frightened clerk. "OH, LOOK WHO ELSE CAME TO PLAY. HELLO, MANIA. COME TO SAVE YOUR FAVORITE PET?"

Peter Parker has posed:
"Aww, c'mon Eddie, don't be that way," Spidey entices Venom. He keeps his palms up and relaxed, body language screaming de-escalation. He also makes sure to keep in Venom's peripheral vision, so the symbiote doesn't start twigging to the possibility of a two-pronged ambush.

"Talk to me here, buddy, what's going on?" he entreats. "Bad hair day? Short paycheck? Believe me I know," he promises the gestalt entity. "So far you haven't done anything that can't be fixed with an apology. No one's been hurt, and I know no one's *gonna* get hurt. You included. Just..." he pats the air. "Take a breath, calm down, and let's talk our way out of this one. Okay?"

Andi Benton has posed:
Mania makes a motion toward Spider-Man, waving her hand in front of her neck a few times. Venom could take it as taunting. Probably will, in the state he's in.

Showing no fear, or at least not exhibiting any of it outwardly, Mania moves closer and crosses her arms. "Do you always shout like this when you're more in control? Makes me wish you had a volume knob." And she was getting at Spidey for possible taunting?

A hand slides over to grab at a few things off one of the displays. "Why don't we all chill out and have some nice chocolate?" Lots of candy bars and such in her grasp, suddenly. "They have Coca-Cola slushies, too. We haven't had one of those in a while."

Eddie Brock has posed:
Venom huffs heavily, breathing hard as his tongue hangs out of his mouth, "WHY ARE YOU BOTH BEING SO DAMN REASONABLE? FIGHT ME, DAMMIT! I'M A BIG SCARY FREAK, FIGHT ME ALREADY!"

He starts to shake his head, hands going up to his temples as he seems to become confused, drawn into some interior battle that only he - they - can hear. It seems like Eddie has woken up from his disassociative episode. "daMMIT!" Venom cries, striking himself in the head.

Peter Parker has posed:
"C'mon guys, we've been through this before," Spidey reminds Eddie and Venom in that same earnest voice. "Me versus Eddie, me versus Venom, Eddie versus Venom, Me and Eddie versus Venom, Eddie and Venom versus me-- we've gone through this rodeo enough times, right?" he says with a chuckle.

"Let's just take the fighting as 'done', yadda yadda yadda, move on to Mania's great idea of chocolate and ice cream. Who doesn't like ice cream?" Spidey says rhetorically.

"Here, wait--" a beat passes and he digs in his backpack, coming up with a container of chow mein. "From Chang's. Beef Chow Mein. We can sit down and have a snack, and then once we're all not hungry any more, *then* we can decide if we're gonna beat the tar out of each other. Fair?"

Andi Benton has posed:
"Because not everything has to be a fight just because?" Mania answers, with the shape of her eyes turning into something that would indicate a scowl were there a visible mouth to go with it. "We talked about Carnage and you must have been busy somewhere else, but we stopped him. Is that it, or is it something else?"

Continuing, she adds, "It's okay to talk sometimes instead of just threatening people and wrecking places. It's already on the police bands. Do you want them to get here and start shooting?" Even if it probably wouldn't matter to a symbiote.

She peers past the larger, more hulking counterpart of hers as Spider-Man comes up with the remainder of his food. A pint of chocolate ice cream is also tossed toward Venom, Mania expecting him to catch it, eat it, consume it, whatever the case may be.

Eddie Brock has posed:
Venom half-charges at Mania, "HE SHOULD BE DEAD. RIPPED INTO PIECES, BURNED TO ASHES! INSTEAD HE'S LOCKED UP AND LAUGHING, WAITING FOR THE NEXT CHANCE. IT MUST BE ENDED."

Venom lashes out at the frozen foods section, tendrils of darkness ripping through glass and sending the pizzas spilling out into the aisle. "WE TRIED. WE TRIED TO BE GOOD. BUT WE CAN'T. WE AREN'T. WE ARE BAD. WE ARE HUNGRY."

"WE ARE VENOM."

And then Venom turns and smashes through a nearby wall, out through the parking lot. He tosses cars up and out of the way, senior citizen joggers scattering as the store tries to collapse in behind him, giving Spidey and Mania scant time to decide between trying to save the store or just getting out while the getting is good.

Peter Parker has posed:
"Venom, no, WAIT--!" It's too late; the symbiote is gone, leaving Spidey and Mania alone in the collapsing building.

"Mania, shore up the rooftop!" Spidey shouts at the other symbiote. He whips a webline out and snares himself a senior shopper, pulling them thirty linear feet with a yank so the rubble doesn't collapse on them. He catches them carefully as he can and sets them on their feet facing the door. "Go! Run!" he orders, pointing. "We'll rescue the others!"

Spidey leaps into action, running through the store with the effortless grace of a parkour master to rescue the civilians still trapped inside. Andi gets no more orders than she needs, Spider-Man placing his implicit trust in her judgement in the moment.

Andi Benton has posed:
Mania's hands plant themselves at her hips as Venom rants. "Then find where he is and do what you need to do. Or you can try harder." The attitude from her is akin to an adult dealing with a petulant child, but their ages are reversed. Eddie is older than Andi, after all.

Then, she recoils and grimaces as Venom just plows through a wall, leaving her to shout after him, "There are these things called doors!" Cars take some damage as well, and there's a full-body sigh with the way her shoulders heave.

The bystanders and potential victims of injury can see she's trying to help keep people safe along with Spidey, as she generates a significant amount of webbing to try shoring up some of that opening. Hey, it's her own big spider web!

"Maybe we should switch roles. Your webbing lasts a lot longer than ours!" she replies, casting more around to double up on what she's already made.