Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It had been a long, long time, sitting on this shitty rock, waiting for a potential host species to just come across them. And Venom was getting sick of waiting.

 Thing is, at least in their opinion, it was a miracle they'd survived this long in the first place, what with being regarded as a weakling by the rest of their kind. Many of them had already started eating each other, and Venom had gotten antsy, thinking that surely, it couldn't be long before they were next. They'd do anything to get off this Knull-forsaken asteroid at this point.

 However, as they were busy trying to tuck themselves into a crevasse in hopes they would go unnoticed, they spotted something.

 No, surely...

 It couldn't be...

 ...But it was.

 A craft!

 A few others had spotted it too. It was headed straight for them! The excited chattering increased as more symbiotes gathered, their attention now fully on the approaching craft instead of killing each other.

 Come to think of it... It wasn't stopping.

 Oh, great. Just great.

 It was going to crash right into the asteroid.

 All the other observing symbiotes quickly scattered, rushing over each other in a tide of frantic colours, trying to avoid being knocked off into space, or worse, caught in a fiery explosion.

 But at this point, Venom had nothing to lose. There could be hosts aboard, and food. They were desperate, and willing to risk it, so they waited, and got into position.

 The moment the craft hit the asteroid, Venom immediately shot into the first rupture in the hull, before foam quickly sealed the gap.

 But there was fire. 

 Fire everywhere.

 It hurt, it hurt so much, they were sure they were about to die…

 They'd been stupid to try this, of course it would get them killed, stupid, stupid…

 But then, suddenly, they ran into something. Something damaged, something dying, but alive. A host! And such a good match, too!

 Unfortunately, they were too damaged, too hungry, to heal the host. But luckily, as the fires died down and the craft drifted away from the asteroid, a door opened, and as the host's mind was filled with sudden hope, the symbiote finally allowed themselves to relax.

 They had done the impossible. They had come across a way out, and a host, who, while a little damaged, was a suitable match.

 For the first time in a long time, Venom felt free.

~~~~~~~~~~

The warning lights flashed, and the alarms blared as Curly ran. 

 SYSTEM FAILURE.

 SYSTEM FAILURE.

 He ran desperately, trying to reach the cockpit, and…

 There was Jimmy, slumped outside the cockpit door, head in his hands.

 Curly was reeling, panicking over the alarms, recalling their conversation the previous day… Everything Jimmy had said about everyone's future after the Pony Express shipping company goes under, about Curly's success as a captain, and about the bottom rung of Curly’s ladder being everyone else's top one, et cetera…

 But Jimmy had been Curly's friend for so long, surely he couldn't have done this…?

 “Jim… Tell me you didn't… What the fuck did you do?!?!”

 But Jimmy didn't answer, and there was no time. Curly dashed into the cockpit, assessing the situation, gunning for the navigation system, trying to-

 BOOM!!!!!!

 The world exploded into white-hot agony. He was dimly aware of the emergency foam activating, the fire, the crunching sounds that had come from his own body as he was thrown about like a ragdoll.

 And… something else. 

 Something that stood out, even taking into account the fact he was literally being both burned and maimed alive at the moment. 

 It felt like something was invading him, his body and soul, his very being… He focused all his attention on that, instead of the fact that he was little more than a bloody mess on the floor of the cockpit, rationalizing that he was just imagining things… Or maybe that's just what death feels like.

 But then, the doors opened. It wasn't Jimmy on the other side of them. And that was enough to lift his heart, or what was left of it anyway. 

 He then promptly passed out from the pain, falling into blissfully dark and dreamless unconsciousness.

Chapter Text

There was a lot to be learned from this host's mind.

 His home planet was of particular interest to Venom, a place teeming with life and ripe for the picking.

 Though unfortunately, Venom also learned that they would not be going there anytime soon.

 They were apparently on a cargo craft, transporting a haul over a great distance, and once Venom figured out this species’s timekeeping system and figured out how long 382 days was, they were decidedly sure that that was far too long. 

 So, now in a significantly less optimistic mood, the symbiote turned to information about the ship they would be stuck on for the foreseeable future, and its crew.

 Venom didn't really care about the ins and outs of their duties and relationships, but they had firmly decided that they didn't like Jimmy, despite the fact that their host seemed to think he was a decent guy, and just needed a bit of therapy.

 Venom thought he was an asshole, and would be best improved by having his head removed from his body.

 They didn't really have strong opinions about the rest of the crew at the moment, aside from how they may taste, and nothing else in their host's

 - Curly, his name was Curly - 

Curly's head that interested them.

 So, once the child, Daisuke, and the elder, Swansea, had dragged him out of the destroyed cockpit, they watched Anya, who was apparently in charge of the crew's health, attempt to repair Curly's body.

 It was a crude attempt, cutting off his mangled limbs and wrapping the raw flesh where protective skin used to be in some kind of thick cloth, but since Venom was far too weak to heal his body, they supposed it would do for now, to keep him alive.

Eventually, Curly regained consciousness, and Venom was hit with a sudden whirlwind of overwhelming emotions and frantic thoughts of pain and fear and guilt and dread, as well as the piercing noise of his screams.

 Wincing, they drew back a little from his mind, settling in his lower torso, and opting to observe for now. They would reveal themselves to him later, when the panic died down a little.

~~~~~~~~~~

Everything hurt.

 That was the first thing that went through Curly's head, the moment he woke up.

 It hurt to breathe. It hurt to move. Hell, he was pretty sure it hurt to think.

 He screamed, and screamed, as agony shot through his body and mind. 

 He remembered what had happened, how maybe if he'd been just the tiniest bit faster…

 As Anya startled awake from dozing in the medbay after the hard work of trying to save Curly's life, he took a few deep breaths despite the searing pain, and tried to assess the situation.

 He'd lost an eye, his right one. That much he could tell immediately. And he definitely didn't have lips anymore. He could feel that he was wrapped head to toe in bandages, and he knew he was lying on the only hospital bed in the medbay, with an IV in his upper arm.

 …And there was something wrong with his limbs.

 He tried to wiggle his toes, or his fingers, but… nothing happened. He strained to look down at himself, and…

 He screamed again. His arms and legs were gone, amputated at the knees and elbows, tied up with tourniquets. And not only was he covered in bandages, he didn't have any goddamn skin anymore. 

 He looked like some half dead, mummified meat lump.

 Anya quickly rushed over, carrying a bottle of painkillers.

 She's crying as she opens his mouth and puts one down his throat.

 He gags, and she has to force it down, which only makes her look even more distraught.

“God… Curly, I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!”

 Somehow she looks even more scared than he feels, and he feels sorry for her. 

 She's doing her best, he knows that, but it doesn't change how much everything hurts.

 However, luckily, the painkillers help.

 A little while later, he feels like he can breathe again. Anya leaves the room, and he can hear the nervous voices of the rest of the crew, discussing what to do. 

 Jimmy seems to be taking charge, ordering the others around already, clearly not letting this get to him.

 Curly didn't know why he'd crashed the ship, but surely it was just some temporary moment of madness? Surely this leadership role he was taking was his way of making up for his mistakes and helping his crew, right?

No it isn't. He is a traitor, and an asshole. We should eat him.

 Curly startled at the strange, deep and gravelly voice, which seemed to be coming from everywhere, and nowhere at all.

What the hell…? What was that?

 He thought to himself, sure he must be going crazy.

Not what. Who.

 The voice replied in annoyance, and now Curly was sure he was going crazy, because he hadn't spoken out loud. He couldn't, after all, he didn't have any damn lips.

You aren't going crazy, you pathetic meat bag.

 The voice just sounded a little exasperated with him now, and Curly couldn't exactly argue with it on the “pathetic meat bag” thing. 

 It was true, after all.

Fine, then. If I'm not going crazy, prove it. Who are you? Show yourself!

I am Venom.

 The voice said, as something black and viscous seemed to seep out of Curly's bandaged flesh and move around, most definitely alive. It spread further over his chest as it extended a few small tendrils from the mass, as if showing off.

 But it did so sluggishly, and clearly with quite some strain, as if even this simple movement was taking more energy than it could reasonably afford to give for too long.

 No, this couldn't be happening… he must be hallucinating or something.

 But he could feel it there, and inside of his body as well. No hallucination was this realistic, and he didn't feel out of it in the slightest.

And unfortunately, at the moment I am far too weak to do much of anything, much like yourself.

Ouch.

So, at least for the foreseeable future, it appears we must cooperate, if we hope to survive.

 And just like that, the strange black substance sank right back into his body. 

 For some reason, the voice seemed sulky, as if it was just as unhappy about the situation as Curly was.

 To say the least, Curly was quite stunned.

What, so now not only am I basically a living corpse, but I've got some kinda freaky alien parasite as well? Great. Just great. How the hell did you even get in here? And why me?

Not a parasite!

 The voice huffed indignantly, actually sounding offended.

And when your craft collided with the asteroid my kind were currently inhabiting, I merely made my escape from that wretched rock. You were the only host currently within range, and I would have burned away and died if I didn't bond with you. 

Huh… so that's what that feeling was. It wasn't death, it was a goddamn alien in my body.

Besides, you're a match, so it doesn't really matter that you look like a slaughtered pig.

How do you even know what that is?

 Curly asked, annoyed, not quite realizing that he was bantering with this alien in his body.

I know everything you know.

Venom replied smugly, and yeah, that tracks.

 Things were fairly quiet after that, clearly Venom had said all they wanted to say for the time being, and Curly was honestly no less confused.

 He knew he should probably be panicking right about now, but honestly, he just couldn't really bring himself to care. It was too weak to hurt anyone, and so was he.

 He supposed he would just have to accept the voice in his head for the remainder of the trip, then figure things out when they got back to Earth.

 Though that wasn't to say he was any more comfortable.

 If anything, it was the opposite.

 He had started to feel extraordinarily hungry, despite the IV delivering all sorts of nutrients directly to his body, and he was sure this damn alien had something to do with it.

 Luckily though, he didn't have to think about it for long, because that was when the medbay door opened, and the small crew of the Tulpar filed in.

 Of course, no one except Anya had actually seen Curly like this yet. 

 Swansea held it together remarkably well, the older man giving a sympathetic wince and a sad look. Whereas Daisuke let out a little squeak of horror before he was able to compose himself.

 Curly didn't exactly blame him, though. The kid was only 17, he shouldn't be seeing something like this.

 Jimmy was the first to speak, addressing the rest of the crew.

“So, then, what do we do with him?”

 Anya blanched a little, and and quickly replied;

“What do you mean? He'll live, we can make the delivery once the thrusters kick back up again and get him proper help there.”

Jimmy grumbled something under his breath, but promptly left the room, barely even glancing at Curly.

Curly found himself wondering what Jimmy had meant as well, when Venom suddenly piped up in his head again, startling him.

Idiot. He obviously blamed the crash on you, and is trying to get rid of you.

 Anya looked concerned when Curly suddenly tensed up, and poor Daisuke just looked like a deer in headlights. But after Curly calmed down and stayed that way a few seconds, they left as well, followed by Swansea, the old mechanic putting a steadying hand on his young intern's shoulder.

 Once they were gone, Curly thought back at Venom;

Shut up. I've known Jimmy since we were kids, he wouldn't do that.

Fine, suit yourself. But I still think we should eat him. We're starving, and I'm sure no one back on your planet would miss him.

 Curly would have sighed, if he didn't know it would probably hurt like a bitch.

 So for now, he just ignored the alien and tried to get some sleep, despite the glaring orange light of the fake window, permanently stuck in sunset mode.

 This was going to be a long journey.

Chapter Text

All in all, the thrusters had not, in fact, kicked back up again.

The crew of the Tulpar had been trying their best, which was all just about anyone could do when your ship just almost exploded and your captain was mangled like a piece of particularly unappealing roadkill.

 Jimmy had of course taken charge; though clearly not everyone was comfortable with this arrangement.

 Swansea had taken to carefully clearing out the emergency foam blocking critical areas, and had relegated Daisuke to clearing areas farther away from the damaged outer hull.

 He claimed it was because Daisuke would only mess it up and kill everyone on board, but in truth, he just wanted to keep the kid away from any more danger.

 Anya had been unable to force down Curly's pain medication without breaking down, despite literally having amputated all of his limbs just a few days ago, for reasons only she and one other really knew.

 So, Jimmy had had to do it a couple of times when she just couldn't take it, and needless to say, Neither Curly nor his new passenger were pleased about that. The latter in particular, despite the fact that without those pills Curly, and by extension the symbiote as well, would be in constant agony.

 Still though, that didn't stop Venom - or V, as Curly had taken to calling them (he really couldn't help himself when it came to nicknames, he had a habit of giving at least one to everyone he knew whether they wanted one or not) - from even more adamantly insisting that they eat Jimmy, and Curly had had to remind them multiple times that even if they were allowed, which they weren't, they were quite literally incapable of doing so at the moment, so he would appreciate if they shut up about it.

 Though their complying with that request was only a small mercy, as they continued to pester him about all sorts of other things.

 He was starting to get used to their incessant questioning though, because at least he had someone to talk to. 

 It was better than being stuck alone in the medbay, with your only visitors either nervously tiptoeing around you and making painfully hesitant smalltalk you could never reciprocate, or just outright treating you cruelly.

 Better to have someone be an annoying asshole, but still treat you like a person instead of a half dead vegetable.

 Besides, the crew rarely visited anyway if they didn't have to, and Curly didn't blame them in the slightest. He probably wouldn't have either, in their situation.

So, he talks to the alien in his head. 

 Sometimes, he learns something interesting, like their need for a host to survive in an oxygen rich environment, or like that one time when Daisuke had accidentally set off the alarms when he'd somehow started a small fire in his room, and Curly had gotten an annoyed earful about how certain high frequency sounds were very harmful to V. 

 ((Although, since he hadn't been in any (additional) pain at that time, though he didn't doubt the truthfulness of the information, he was pretty sure in that particular instance V was just being a drama queen.))

 Mostly, though, their mental conversations consisted of V asking questions of varying levels of stupidity, asking Curly over and over again if they could eat the rest of the crew, particularly Jimmy (the answer was still no) and then just loudly complaining about how hungry they were.

 It sucked, but it was something, and for Curly, that was enough.

~~~~~~~~~~

Curly. Curly, what's that?

 Venom directed their host's attention to a sheet of paper on the wall, pinned haphazardly to the bulletin board. 

 It had a picture of a cartoon horse, riding on top of a craft, with the text; “Polle says: giddy up galaxy!”

 Curly groaned a little out loud, and replied to Venom in his mind through their bond, as usual.

Nothing. Just stupid corporate propaganda, a half-assed attempt to keep us in line.

 It was hard to figure out the complexities of their new host's emotions sometimes, but right now, it was plain as day. Looking at that poster gave Curly such feelings of bitterness and betrayal, as memories of years of service and success flashed across his mind's eye, only to be suddenly cut short by a single image. A letter he had received from the organisation he worked for, announcing the company's termination. Just like that.

 And with this memory came that of the crew's reaction, particularly Jimmy's, much to Venom's annoyance. Memories of cake and an argument, devastation and anger.

 Venom stopped paying attention, and Curly could tell. 

 They could sense their host trying to push back the memory, clearly not wanting to think about it right now since the symbiote was no longer interested.

 But luckily, at that moment, neither of them had any reason to think about that, because the door to the medbay had just opened. 

~~~~~~~~~~

Anya entered, as expected, but was now followed by Daisuke, who seemed to be in the middle of a conversation with her.

“Ok but can I at least try? I just feel like it's the least I can do, y'know? If he doesn't want it, that's fine, but I just feel like… like…”

“Like you want to help him feel better?”

 Anya suggested.

“Yeah! That. So, uhh… can I?”

 Daisuke asked sheepishly. Curly peered at the teenager, now noticing what it was that he was holding. It was a chocolate bar. Nothing special, just basic generic off-brand milk chocolate, but out here, it was worth its weight in gold.

The kid must have a stash of the stuff,

 Curly thought idly.

 Anya sighed, and went to start hesitantly preparing Curly's daily pain killers, as she said;

“Alright then, I guess you can try. Just do a little bit at a time, and place it carefully. Make sure he doesn't choke. And don't let Swansea or Jimmy see that stuff; Jimmy will probably just yell at you and chuck it in the airlock, and Swansea’s gonna eat it all in like a week.”

 Daisuke nodded enthusiastically, thanking Anya as he began to break off a small piece of the chocolate, wandering nervously over to Curly's hospital bed, and kneeling down next to him as he said;

“O-ok captain, here you go. If you don't want it, you don't have to try and eat it, I'll try and take it back out again, but, well… it's the least I can do, so, uhh… here.”

 Daisuke gently placed a tiny piece of chocolate in Curly's mouth, and immediately, curly felt V stir. The moment it touched his tongue, and V had a split second to examine it, the alien suddenly forced his jaw to shut, with a sudden snap that made Daisuke jump.

Food!

 V’s gravelly voice sounded far more delighted than Curly had ever heard it, as it quickly absorbed the tiny nugget of chocolate. Although the piece was so miniscule, Curly sensed the gnawing hunger he'd been experiencing for the past week beginning to abate. V then forced his jaw back open, but Curly was too relieved to be annoyed.

 Daisuke looked shocked, but also a little excited, as he said;

“Oh… you liked that? You… want more?”

 Curly nodded ever-so-slightly, though it was painful to do so. He heard V’s ecstatic voice ring out through his head again;

Yes, yes! More of that! At last, a decent source of phenylethylamine!

 Curly didn't exactly understand what they were talking about, not really knowing what that particular chemical was, but he figured it had something to do with their diet. Not as if it mattered, all that mattered right now was that the chocolate got rid of the hunger.

 So, for the next few minutes, Daisuke slowly fed Curly a little bit of chocolate at a time, till he'd eaten nearly half the bar, and Anya asked him to stop.

“I think the capt- uhh, I think Curly's had enough sugar now, Daisuke. Good call, since he seems to be feeling better, but I need to give him his medicine now. Maybe go ask Swansea if he needs help with anything? But hide that first, of course.”

 Daisuke nodded enthusiastically, shoved the chocolate in his pocket, and waved goodbye to Anya and Curly before skipping out of the medbay.

 As usual, Anya administered his painkiller pill, though also as usual, this meant she had to force it down. She always seemed so distressed by this in particular, and Curly couldn't quite figure out why.

 After that was done, and Anya too had left the medbay, Curly mentally addressed V again.

So, mind telling me what all that was about?

What, can your pathetic mind not comprehend basic nutrition now?

 V replied, sardonic as usual, though there was hardly any malice behind it.

It's simple. I require a certain chemical to live, just like you humans and your own complicated dietary needs. That chemical is found in brains and, apparently, chocolate. That is good to know. Hopefully, the child will bring us more.

Yeah, alright then. I agree, though maybe stop referring to Daisuke as “the child” and so forth, and that goes for the rest of the crew too. You know their names, don't you?

 Curly replied, the captain's instinct of handling rude crewmates kicking in for a moment.

And you know mine, yet you insist on shortening it.

V huffed.

Yeah, well, that's a nickname. That's different.

I do not see the difference.

Whatever. I don't have the energy to argue with you right now, I need to get some damn rest.

Fine then. Goodnight, you whiny little bitch.

Night, parasite.

Chapter Text

Things had been going fairly routinely since then. Anya came in to give Curly his meds every day, and every day he'd continue to talk with V, in order to preserve his sanity. The alien was no less sardonic and annoying, but Curly was getting used to it now, just as he was getting used to looking and feeling like a disaster Christmas ham that was somehow both raw and burnt.

 And at least now they weren't all that hungry anymore, not like the first week, because Daisuke would regularly come in and sneak Curly some of his chocolate stash.

 The boy had been delighted to discover that the dark chocolate seemed to be Curly's favorite (of course, it was actually Venom's, but Daisuke didn't know that), because it was his own least favorite, that he'd brought along with all the other kinds only because it came with the bulk box.

 As of right now, Curly had been enjoying some well-earned rest after trying to explain TikTok to V, when he was suddenly awoken by the sound of the medbay door.

 Through it walked Anya, earlier than expected, carrying something on a paper plate in her hands.

 It was… a slice of cake? But hadn't they already had their allotted birthday party for this haul? Was the morale situation really that dire? 

 Though he knew they'd deny it, Curly felt V’s interest spike at the sugary treat, just as Anya brought up a chair and sat down by Curly's hospital bed.

“Heya, Curly… so, uhh, funny story actually, Daisuke and Swansea bullied Jimmy into making another one of those shitty cakes after, like, a week of trying, heh. And, well… I figured, what with the sudden interest in chocolate, even though it isn't chocolate flavoured… maybe you'd want some?”

 Amusement bubbled up in Curly's mind, because yeah, that absolutely sounded like something Swansea and Daisuke would do.

I mean, why not I guess. What do you think, V?

Well you can sure as hell try. But it isn't chocolate, and it isn't Jimmy's brain, so don’t count on my help.

Whatever, slimeball. Don't even know why I asked you in the first place.

 Curly nodded slightly at Anya, and she began giving him tiny pieces of cake. They were soft, easy to swallow, and tasted a whole lot better than nothing but air and dark chocolate.

 V had no reaction at all as far as Curly could tell. That is, until he got a bite with some of the sweetener “frosting”.

 They absorbed it immediately, somehow even faster than the chocolate, and Curly suddenly felt not only sated, but stronger.

 And at the same frantic pace, without even a moment's pause, V plunged straight back into Curly's memories, taking Curly with them.

 A few moments later, Curly was seeing the very first time he'd been aboard the Tulpar, with Jimmy. 

 They had been looking at the ingredients on the food packets, particularly the sweetener, and V was clearly trying to focus his attention on said ingredients, but Curly was far too distracted by old memories with his friend.

 He heard the words he remembered himself saying;

“Damn… Jim, come look at this! They really put anything in this stuff, huh? I've never even heard of half these dang chemicals. I mean, what's wrong with good ol’ sugar?”

“Well, they market it as some kinda miracle substance, but it's really just frosting pumped full of random bullshit they hope’s gonna trick your brain into liking it. Corpos are a buncha damn dumbasses, but hey, they're also the ones paying our bills, so I guess we just gotta eat whatever the fuck they wanna shove down our throats.”

 Memory-Jimmy replied, just as he had done all those years ago. Curly felt himself about to speak again, and continue reliving the memory, when V finally managed to wrench his attention away from his friend, and onto the sweetener packaging.

No, you absolute buffoon. We're not here to talk to your stanky snack-shaped so-called “friend”. Look.

 As Curly looked at the ingredients, as expected, he didn't understand at all what most of them were.

 But one stood out to him, and clearly to V as well.

 Phenylethylamine. The chemical that V had told him was their primary source of nutrition, some kind of brain chemical.

 Triumph that was not his own surged through him, and suddenly, he was seeing through his own eye again, no longer in the memory. 

 Anya startled a little from what she perceived as a sudden momentary spasm, but after checking to make sure he was okay (or at least not actively dying), she gave him his medicine again, and left the room.

 Still tired, Curly resolved to go back to sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~

Venom listened, confirming that the rest of the crew was asleep, including their host.

 Now was the time to act. 

 Thanks to the child regularly providing chocolate, and the momentary boost from the sweetener in the cake, their strength had grown exponentially since the first week.

 Not enough to reach full strength, sadly, but just enough to pilot their host's unconscious body, and form some makeshift limbs. Likely quadrupedal, but they'd make it work.

 So, once the silence had remained complete for around half an hour, Venom enveloped their host, forming their face over his, and manifested some half-hearted claws and feet where the stumps were. It wasn't like they really had to last more than a few minutes anyway.

 Once they were fully manifested and in control, they scuttled quietly out of the medbay, tapping into their host's memories for their next objective.

 They reached the cockpit without issue, and…

 There!

 The locker on their right side, which should contain the object they were after. 

 To their utter frustration, Curly had a habit of recalling the most random things with perfect accuracy, but completely and utterly forgetting others. Like for example, the code that Venom needed right now. 

 Hopping up into a bipedal position in a slightly wobbly fashion, Venom quickly gripped the handle and the side of the locker for balance, and opened it.

 As expected, there was the code scanner.

 They grabbed it with a tendril, quickly shut the locker, and skittered off towards the kitchen, carefully balancing trying to hurry up and trying not to lose coordination and fall over, or make too much noise.

Finally, they reached the kitchen area, so close now to their prize. 

 No time to waste now, so, quiet as a mouse, they quickly used a tendril to flip through the wall-mounted recipe book and scan the black bar hiding the code they needed.

 Venom could feel themselves drooling already as they yet again balanced up on their stubby half-solid limbs to operate the ingredients dispenser and type in the code.

 2-3-4-1.

 And then, to their delight, a neat little packet of Pony Express brand sweetener mix popped right out of the machine.

 They swore they could smell the phenythylamine now, and they were about to devour the packet then and there, when suddenly, they heard a little squeak of surprise and terror behind them.

 It was the child, Daisuke, Venom saw, shaking in his flowery shirt as he stared at the strange, gooey black creature in front of him, clearly terrified of the huge white eyes and needle-like teeth.

 But before Venom could try and do anything about it, the boy promptly fainted, leaving an awkward silence in his wake.

 Venom stood there for a moment, just staring at the unconscious young human on the floor, before sighing and promptly skittering away again, haphazardly chucking the code scanner back into the cockpit, before returning to the child.

 They dragged him as quietly as they could back to his quarters, placing him as if he'd fallen off the bed since they didn't really fancy lifting him right now, and scurried back to the kitchen.

 Now, finally, they could eat in peace.

 They tossed the whole packet into their gaping maw, not even bothering to try and open it, and immediately felt more well-fed than they had in centuries.

 So, no longer really in a hurry, they happily made the final trek back to the medbay, pushed themselves up onto the hospital bed, and sank back into Curly's flesh.

 Though, now… they had time to actually think about what had just happened.

 They’d just been right next to a completely vulnerable human, and instead of immediately consuming him like they should have - like they probably would have, had they still been in the presence of their superiors - they just…

 Took him back to his bed. Made an effort to place him somewhere he wouldn't be too confused about. They hadn't even bumped him into anything on the way.

 Memories began to resurface. Unwanted memories, ones of sneering, teasing cruelty.

 Of being called a weakling, a loser, for having even the tiniest shred of sympathy for their hosts.

 And now, they'd gone and selflessly helped an alien, who wasn't even their host, without even thinking about it. What would Riot say? They'd probably just eat Venom on the spot for something like that.

 Was it because he'd brought them chocolate? Was it because he was young and innocent? Venom just… didn't know. This couldn't be a good sign, and yet…

 They had just… done it. 

 Not to mention they were even beginning to think of their host like a friend.

 Maybe they really were a weakling, they thought, as they curled up near Curly's heart.

Chapter Text

Well… it was bound to happen eventually.

 This was Curly's first thought, as the sound of yelling and the scent of mouthwash filled the ship.

Bet you Swansea’s gonna get drunk off his ass, like, immediately. 

Yeah, it's likely, unfortunately.

~~~~~~~~~~

 A second month had now gone by aboard the Tulpar, and both physically damaged man and mentally damaged symbiote had grown to accept their position as friends. 

 Of course, both were still blunt with one another, even mocking, but it was almost always all jest now.

 Curly had been allowing V to continue their little sweetener heists after they'd told him about the first one (which surprised him, as they really didn't seem like the type to be honest with others), but limited them to once a week, which V was perfectly content with.

 They had both been a little worried about Daisuke witnessing said first sweetener heist, but luckily he'd thought it was all just some weird dream, and it was never brought up again.

 Of course, some things never change.

 While they had entirely dropped asking to eat most of the crew, V still practically begged to eat Jimmy.

 All. The. Time.

 And of course, Curly would always say “no” though he wasn't entirely sure why V actually listened to him.

 He supposed that, no matter who, no matter when, even if you've shared a body with them for an extended period of time, unable to do anything but talk to each other…

 There's always something new to learn about someone.

~~~~~~~~~~

Over the past month, Venom had been contemplating.

 Processing the resurgence of their so-called weakness, the very thing they'd tried to purge from themselves for so long.

 Pondering why they didn't just force control and consume the rest of the crew.

 And they'd begun to realize something.

 The things Venom had been taught, ever since they first spawned, were not the only way to survive in the vast universe.

 And despite their so far limited experience with the species…

 Humanity showcased that rather remarkably.

 Their species had survived by banding together. By caring about each other.

 Something so often seen as weakness by harsher races, and yet, humanity was one of the most advanced and numerous out there.

 So perhaps…

 Perhaps it wasn't some defect, to crave connection and unity and friendship instead of simply one's own survival.

 Venom resolved to think more on this. 

~~~~~~~~~~

Days passed since the crew had opened the cargo hold and found the mouthwash. 

 Just as predicted, Swansea had started drinking it, and had taught Daisuke how to do the same. 

 Now almost perpetually drunk, the man would often stumble into the medbay to vent his frustrations to Curly. Probably because he needed someone to talk to, badly, and he knew Curly obviously wouldn't tell anyone.

 Now was one such time, as he lumbered through the door and almost fell on his face.

Oh, great. The elder is feeling chatty again. 

 V commented, without much enthusiasm.

V, dude, I know he can't hear you, and I've told you this before, but can you please refrain from being rude to my crewmates?

 Curly thought back with exasperation, fully aware that the answer was no. But before V could deliver a witty response, Swansea somewhat uncoordinatedly dragged a chair over and flopped down in it, as he began his slurred drunken tirade.

“Heyya, Curly ol’ buddy… y'know- *burp* y'know how many goddamn times I told that damn kiddo to staaayyy the fuck outta danger, and he just… up and… fuckin went and did his thiiing anyway? *hic* Like twenty fuckin bajillion… heh… d’y’know… y'know… *hic* why I gotta be the oooonly one ta’ look out fer ‘im? I'll tell ya why, I will… s’cus- *burp* s’cus I gotta look after eeeeeverybody. Even that rat bastard Jimjam… even if he don't want no help… then there's Anya, poor broad… I- *hic* I just know that poor girl's been through a lot, god almighty I know it… aaanyways, lil Dai's got heart, I'll tell ya that, but the poor little scrapper ain't got noooooo idea what t’ real world's like… heh… ‘pparently his daddy didn't teach him nothin' useful, n’ now he's gotta- *burp* he's gotta slum it up with the rest of us… he really don't deserve that, but hey, what can ya do… *hic* Now, I tell ya, I oughta give that bossy ol' asshole Jimbob a talking to…”

 Things continued like that for a while. Swansea could be rude and callous, but Curly could tell he really did care about his crewmates. Well, most of them anyway.

 He could also sense V contemplating these connections and attachments in ways he didn't think his little tagalong was even capable of.

 Clearly, his murderous alien friend had been doing some soul searching recently, and honestly? Good for them. 

 But for now, there was a more pressing matter to think about.

 Namely the fact that clearly, Anya was not having a good day today, and unfortunately, that meant that Jimmy would be giving Curly his painkillers.

 And extra unfortunately, today, Jimmy was drunk.

I've told you before, I'll tell you again. We need to eat him. It would solve so many problems.

No. We're not doing that. He's just got a bit of mental illness, and all this stress can't have helped. He can get help, therapy.

Idiot. There aren't any therapists out here. You're just too much of a pussy to admit that your greasy-ass “friend” is an evil menace.

Do. Not. Do it. You'll scare the rest of the crew.

 At this, to Curly's surprise, V hesitated.

 But before either could continue their internal conversation, Jimmy was finished grumpily ushering Swansea out of the room, and was grabbing a bottle of painkillers quite a bit more forcefully than was necessary.

“Y'know…”

 He slurred, something distantly hateful in his baggy eyes;

“S’ all your fault. You n’ your stupid dreams… captain perfect, shinin’ star o’ the fleet… and we're just… nothin’. Heh… I'm just the stupid ol’ friend, the pity party asshole, whose name nooobody’s gonna remember… tell me, Curly, does that sound fair to you?”

 Jimmy spat out Curly's name like it was something bitter and poisonous, a grin that was just sadistic enough to unsettle Curly and make V all the more furious spreading across his face as he shook a pill into his hand.

“‘Course, you know all that. But what you don't know, is how it felt. Y'know what, old pal? Why don't we see… if I can make you understand.”

 And that was when he opened Curly's mouth, and began to jam the pill down his throat.

 Jimmy was always rougher with it than Anya, but today, there was real hatred behind it, unleashed by time and alcohol.

 And by god, it hurt. 

 Curly choked and spluttered as Jimmy practically stabbed the pill, over and over, into the back of his throat, that grin on his face becoming ever more twisted.

 But then…

 Suddenly, before he could even register what was happening, Curly felt himself lose any and all control over his own jaw, and felt it being puppeteered from the inside to bite down hard on Jimmy's hand. 

 Enough to draw blood.

 Jimmy screamed like a little girl, causing satisfaction that was not his own to course through Curly's body, and frantically wrenched his hand out of Curly's mouth.

 He glared down at Curly for a few moments, such horrifically immense rage in his eyes, but luckily, he didn't make to retaliate.

 He instead just hastily and furiously applied some antiseptic and a bandage to the wound around his wrist, then stormed out the medbay door.

 Now, it was Curly's turn to be angry.

What the hell, dude? Why would you do that? Not cool!

I… I am sorry, Curly. He was hurting us. I know that you care about all of your crewmates, no matter what, but though I am sorry for taking control without your permission, I am not sorry for hurting him. I will not apologize for that. You really do need to learn that not everyone deserves your forgiveness.

 Curly sighed, the anger slowly but surely seeping out of him again.

 He could tell that V had wanted to do more.

 To take full control, and tear Jimmy apart before eating his brain.

 And… they hadn't. They'd only lashed out to keep Curly safe. He honestly didn't know why he should expect anything more from an alien that, a couple of months ago, would have been perfectly happy to eat the entire crew.

 And Curly knew V could tell that his command not to eat Jimmy no longer came from a place of any friendship or attachment to the man; now, Curly just didn't want to freak out the crew, or have blood on his metaphorical hands if he could help it.

For what it's worth, I'm sorry too.

Hm?

Yeah. I shouldn't have snapped at you like that.You just got scared, and you were just protecting me. Thank you.

...You're welcome.

Alrighty then, I say we call it a day. Night, loser.

Goodnight, moron.

Chapter Text

Another whole month had passed.

 And though most of the crew had been noticeably devolving, both physically and mentally, Curly and Venom had only grown closer as friends.

 And both had accepted that they were fine with that.

 Venom had finally plucked up the courage to discuss the customs and cruelties of their species, and Curly had gladly hyped them up, telling them they didn't need those assholes anymore. At this, Venom had jokingly reminded him about Jimmy again, and Curly had replied that, to be honest, he didn't really need Jimmy anymore either.

 He still hadn't let Venom eat the guy, though.

 Now, both were beginning to ponder a very important decision indeed.

 Should they reveal the truth to the crew?

 Curly trusted his friend not to hurt them, but still, seeing an alien made of black goo with a mouth full of razor teeth come out of your crippled meat lump of a former captain cannot be a particularly relaxing experience.

 Although, neither was being stranded on a foamed-up ship with nothing but an ocean of mouthwash.

 But of course, little did they know that today was the day they'd drive fate off the rails, when that decision must be made.

~~~~~~~~~~

It was a day like any other, a now comfortable routine they'd gone through a hundred times.

 Reminiscing here, some playful banter there, a good-natured jab or two.

 That was when Anya entered the room.

This was normal, but today, something was… off.

 Today, her presence brought an entirely different energy. Something cold and empty. Something determined.

 She locked the door behind her, and just… stood there. Hollow eyes staring out into space. Position slouched, hair unkempt.

 Curly and Venom both knew something was wrong. 

 Deeply wrong.

 There was a nervous knock at The door, and Daisuke's timid voice called out from behind it;

“A-anya? Are… are you ok? The door's not opening, are you stuck?”

 Anya didn't reply.

 She just… kept standing there.

 Then she just slumped a little more, and looked down at her feet.

“H-hold on, Anya! I'm going to get help! I'll get you out, don't worry!”

 Daisuke reassured her determinedly from the other side, before his rapid footsteps could be heard hurrying away.

Something’s wrong. Was it Jimmy? I bet that slimy son of a bitch did this, I wouldn't put it past him, I-

No, I don't think- well, maybe, but… I think this is something deeper. Something's really wrong here… I really don't like this, bud.

 Anya had sat down now, and looked like she was debating something with herself.

 Something life-alteringly important, so unfathomably severe that Curly had never seen her look this serious.

 Not even after she'd sawed his limbs off.

 But just then, there were more footsteps from outside the medbay. Two pairs this time.

Daisuke's voice could be heard once again;

“Anya! I brought Jimmy! We're here to rescue you! Don't worry! Don't panic!”

 Curly and Venom got the feeling that Daisuke was probably the only one panicking here, though they did notice that Anya stiffened at the mention of Jimmy's name.

 Then, she shrank back even more when Jimmy himself spoke from the other side;

“Hey. Heard the lock's broken.”

 Her eyes were wide now, as she stared at the door and leaned away from it, looking like like a deer in headlights and shaking like a rabbit in a snowdrift.

“Hey. Anya! Can you hear me?” 

 Jimmy sounded a little annoyed and impatient.

 Anya took a deep breath, and, clearly forcing her tone to stay even with every bit of courage she could muster, she replied;

“Yeah. I can hear you, Jimmy.”

“The rest of our medicine stash is in there too. Damn… this could be bad. Did you try to really put your back into it?”

 Curly's heart ached for Anya as tears began to well up in her eyes. She was trying to draw breath, but couldn't, as if her throat was closed, making heartbreaking little hiccup-choking sounds for a few seconds before she was able to shakily inhale again.

 Venom's fury rapidly began to rise at Jimmy talking about her as if this serious situation she was going through was nothing but a mild annoyance preventing him from accessing the medbay.

 Daisuke's voice sounded again, sounding a lot more concerned than Jimmy;

“Any wrenches laying around? How heavy is the med kit?!”

 But Anya had started spacing out again, looking only more miserable by the second.

 After a short pause, Jimmy asked slowly;

“Anya, is the door stuck?”

 Now, Anya wasn't even trying to hide the misery and emptiness in her voice as she responded querulously;

“...No.”

“Huh? What do you mean?!”

 Daisuke squeaked, before Jimmy snapped, interrupting him;

“Look. We're all stressed. But you can't go breaking down at every little hardship. Open the damn door.”

 Anya smiled sadly, and forced out a weak chuckle, before saying;

“...You were right. You were right all along. I should have done this from the beginning.”

 Clearly now, she'd come to a decision, and Curly's blood ran cold when she looked over at the painkillers.

“I always believed that our worst moments didn't define us. Didn't make us beyond repair. You think I wanted this either? Make no mistake. This isn't my worst moment. Far from it. It's the best one I'll ever make.”

 There was another moment of crushing silence, before Jimmy just bluntly commanded;

“Open the door.”

 But Anya wasn't listening to him anymore.

“I'll take care of it.”

 She said distantly, and now Curly and Venom could see the determination lighting her eyes. Was she really going to do it?

“Anya?! What does that mean?!”

 Daisuke's panicked yell rang out, but it fell on deaf ears.

 Jimmy started talking to the boy in a hushed tone, the two of them clearly suspecting she planned to kill Curly, which was quite obviously not true.

 But then, their conversation turned to alternative methods of getting into the medbay, and the utility room was mentioned, by Jimmy of course.

Jesus Christ… what the fuck is he thinking?! Daisuke could die if he goes through that damn busted old vent, I can't believe he'd risk the life of an innocent kid so easily-

Well I can. What he is doing is downright psychopathic, but right now, that is not the most pressing matter.

Anya is about to try and kill herself. Daisuke is going to be coming up through that vent, because he is a chronic people pleaser, and he is going to be heavily injured, most likely on the brink of death. And god knows what the fuck Jimmy's going to do to Swansea to get in that utility room.

Point is, we have a decision to make. And I think we both know what the answer is.

…Yeah. Yeah, I know. Giving them a nasty shock is far better than letting them all die.

Fuck it. Let's save our crew.

 A few minutes later, Anya downed the pills.

 Daisuke's pained cries could be heard as he made his way through the vent.

 It was now or never.

 Upon silent agreement, Curly and Venom rushed into action.

 As soon as Anya collapsed, foaming at the mouth to the floor by the hospital bed, her eyes widened as a tendril of Venom’s mass wrapped gently around her arm and began to sink inside it.

 But before she could scream, she felt the frantic signals they were sending directly to her brain.

 They didn't have time for words right now, as they worked furiously to siphon the lethal dose of medication out of her body, but they managed to get across the general message of being a friend of Curly's here to save her damn life.

 She didn't freak out, though both Curly and Venom were pretty sure this was less because she was reassured by the message and more because she didn't really care if Venom killed her.

 They'd work that out with her later, but now, Daisuke was beginning to emerge from the vent.

 Curly winced and Venom rippled nervously as his agonized squeals, gasps, sobs and whimpers echoed around the room.

 He was trying to pull himself up, but they didn't want him to have to keep suffering for however long that would take.

 So, Venom sent out a much larger tendril, stretched it out like a blanket, and used it to scoop up poor Daisuke like a sodden kitten being pulled out of a drainpipe in a towel.

 Unlike Anya, Daisuke did in fact scream, and began to struggle. 

 But he slowed down in confusion when he realized his countless cuts, scrapes, burns and bruises had stopped hurting entirely, and in fact, felt as if they'd never even been there in the first place, despite the fact that he didn't feel numb in the slightest.

 Venom quickly deliberated internally with Curly, before helping him up into a sitting position on the hospital bed and gently placing Anya and Daisuke on either side of him, staying partially wrapped around them both.

 Anya was still just as apathetic before, though now with a note of slight confusion, and Daisuke just looked utterly befuddled.

 And that was when Venom spoke out loud for the first time (luckily without complications), their voice coming from Curly's mouth, though his mangled jaw wasn't moving.

“Shh, it's alright. Everything's going to be ok. I'm a friend of Curly's, I got on the ship and into his body during the crash, since the asteroid this ship crashed into happened to be the very one my species was currently inhabiting. Don't worry, he's still here, and we've grown to be quite good friends, but unfortunately due to his lack of lips he can't really reply to you himself in more than just a few grunts. We'd been debating as to when to reveal the truth to you all, but decided that the shock would be better than your deaths, so you're welcome for that. Please do not be afraid; we'll make sure you don't get hurt like this again. You're going to be fine.”

 There was a heartbeat of silence in which Curly and Venom started to worry if they were going to have to deal with a freakout, but to their relief, that silence was broken by the sound of Daisuke hesitantly (but increasingly more enthusiastically) asking;

“Wait, so… you're an alien? Like, an actual, real alien? And… you're not gonna eat us? You healed us? And you're friends with Curly??? Oh… oh, wow, that's… that's actually kinda cool! And… oh, wait, oh my god, were you the one eating all that chocolate? Wait, wait a minute, god, I think I've seen you before!!! You were stealing the sweetener, I knew it wasn't a dream, that's awesome!!!”

 Venom chuckled at the boy's enthusiasm, and Curly beamed internally, proud of his resilience. Even Anya cracked a smile, as clearly Daisuke’s enthusiasm was infectious.

 But just then, there was a loud knock on the medbay door, and none other than Swansea's voice boomed out the other side, sounding like he had the absolute worst hangover of his life.

“You goddamn kids open this door right fucking now, ol’ Swansea's coming to save ya!”

 Daisuke stared, mouth agape as if this was even more surprising than learning that they'd been cohabiting the ship with an alien for the past three months.

 Venom quickly unlocked the door with a tendril, and Swansea stumbled frantically into the room, grabbing the doorframe for support, then froze, staring.

“Ok, just what the fuck is going on?”

Chapter Text

“Wait, so… you're tellin’ me you've been in there this whole dang time? Just chattin’ away with the cap?”

“That's the gist of it, yes.”

 Venom had explained the situation to Swansea, as well as explaining it a bit more thoroughly to Anya and Daisuke.

 The latter looked like he was dying to ask Swansea something, but didn't want to be rude and interrupt the symbiote’s explanation.

 Now, the moment Venom was done talking, he blurted out;

“How the hell are you awake?! That cocktail was, like, almost all alcohol.”

“Heh, ‘s gonna take a lot more n’ that to take me down, kid! Nah, I'm just joshin’. You really think I'm gonna trust anything that ol’ bastard Jimbo gives me? I just took a tiny lil sip, pretended to gulp it up. Thing is, though, didn't expect it to be quite that strong, had me down for the count for a good few minutes. Soon as I woke up, headed straight here. Dunno where Jimbob went, prolly off doing something weird now that no one's watchin’.

Wait, he drugged you???

 Curly exclaimed, before remembering that no one except V could hear him, since he was communicating by thought.

 Though, to his relief, Venom passed on what he'd said to Swansea and the rest, without needing to be asked.

“Eee-yup, but trust me on this one cap’n: he's done way worse than that. Even before this dang crash even happened, right under your nose. Won't hold it against ya, though, you've always been a sweet guy, but uhh… never really the most observant.”

 Swansea replied, and yeah, that was fair.

 Curly asked Venom to pass on another message, and so they did.

“Curly wanted to ask you all… what more has Jimmy done, that he has not seen? He's promised he can handle it, as he no longer sees that asshole as a friend.”

 Swansea immediately launched into a rant.

“Oh, loads! Like there was that one time a few weeks ago, when the greasy asshole threw Daisuke into a damn wall for asking him to repeat himself. Said he was drunk, but that ain't no excuse. Or right at the beginning of this whole damn ordeal, when he pretended to break the only workin’ toilet to “teach us a lesson.” I could go on and on to be honest, like when he threw a tantrum and started throwin’ food around ‘cause he thought we weren't respecting his authority enough, or threatened to breach the foam and kill the lot of us. And god, then there's the shit he did to poor Anya, although…”

 His voice softened a little, and his expression turned sympathetic as he looked over at Anya;

“Might be best to hear that one from her… if she's alright with that, o’ course. I'm perfectly happy to explain it myself if she don't wanna talk about it.”

“Oh, um… yeah, I think I'm up to it… at least, I can try… uhh, maybe let Daisuke go first, though?”

 Anya murmured, clearly nervous to talk about whatever trauma Jimmy had inflicted on her, but putting on a brave face. 

 Swansea sat down on the edge of the hospital bed, and gave her a comforting pat on the back.

 Daisuke, who had been staring in curious wonder at Venom's mass, suddenly seemed to snap out of it, and exclaimed;

“Oh, uhh, yeah! Well, there's the stuff Swansea said, and a couple other things of course, but also just now, that asshole basically just guilt tripped me into helping him drug Swansea, and did the same to force me into going through that vent even though he knew I might die. Which, in hindsight, was absolutely not okay whatsoever, though I have absolutely no idea if I'd have had any kinda chance at fighting him on it if I said no.”

 Curly empathized with the pain of his crew, feeling shame for both trusting Jimmy for so long in the first place, and not being there to help when he'd done all of these awful things.

 Venom tried their best to convey these feelings, and the crew seemed to appreciate it.

“It wasn't your fault, cap. You just made a mistake, that's all! And you got a brand new friend out of it, too!”

 Daisuke reassured him, ever the little optimist.

 After a few moments of comfortable silence, Anya took a deep breath, and spoke up.

“I was pregnant. Not anymore, since a couple of days ago. It hurt, but I got rid of it.”

“It… was his.”

 The whole crew stared in silence, all shocked except for Swansea, who was looking at her with sympathetic encouragement.

 Curly felt his heart clench in his chest, and Venom subconsciously wrapped a little tighter around her as she began to speak again, holding back tears;

“He asked, at first. And I said no. He asked again, and again, and I told him every time that I wasn't interested. One day, he didn't ask. He just waltzed into my damn room, and-”

 Anya choked up, and tried for a moment to think of what to say next, but failed. 

 However, she didn't have to, because everyone else had already understood her, loud and clear.

V?

Yes?

You officially have my permission to eat him.

~~~~~~~~~~

It was time. Everyone got up off the hospital bed, and walked out of the medbay.

 Venom let Curly keep control of his body for now, and formed him some makeshift limbs with their mass, now much more refined than their first crude attempt.

 Curly took a deep breath before following the others, leaving the medbay for the first time in three months.

 The ship was a mess, with foam everywhere and bottles of mouthwash lying around all over the floor.

 But they could worry about that later. They could worry about all of it later.

 Because right now, there was only one goal.

 For a minute, the crew wondered just where Jimmy had gone, but they soon heard him mumbling to himself in the bathroom.

 The moment they knew where he was, they scattered.

 Daisuke wrenched an already flimsily attached piece of metal pipe off the rest of it. It used to be plumbing for a bathroom that was currently foamed up.

 He gave it a whirl, swinging it hard in wide arcs, and nodded to himself, satisfied.

 Swansea headed for the axe he'd dropped to the floor when Jimmy had drugged him.

 Luckily, it was still in the very same spot where he'd forgotten it when he'd rushed over to the medbay.

 Anya, meanwhile, walked calmly but determinedly with Curly and Venom, and to their momentary confusion, led them back through the medbay doors.

 She reached under the hospital bed, and pulled out a box.

 A very familiar box, with a scannable code bar.

 Curly didn't bother to look for the scanner. He used Venom's strength to simply break the box open, and politely handed the gun to Anya, who took it with more confidence than he'd yet seen in her.

 Now, they were ready.

 For their revenge.

~~~~~~~~~~

Curly stood his ground beside his crewmates, with Venom's reassuring presence in his mind.

 He could hear Jimmy's footsteps, strolling through the corridor without a care in the world, as if the cunt hadn't committed countless atrocities against his fellows.

 Daisuke, Swansea and Anya all clutched their weapons, and stared fiercely ahead as Jimmy turned the corner.

 The moment he saw them, the man yelped and jumped back. If he still had lips, Curly would've grinned savagely.

“Wh-what the hell??? What is that??? How the fuck is that bastard walking, what the fuck is going on???”

 Jimmy yelled frantically, looking rapidly at each furious figure staring back at him.

“Curly's friends with an alien named Venom, and we're all gonna kick your ass!”

 Daisuke whooped somewhat manically.

“Wh… alien…? Goddamn it, you idiots! It must be some kind of body snatcher! Quick, hit it with everything you've got, and I'll take it down! I'll save you!”

 Jimmy ordered angrily, but none of the crew moved a muscle.

 And that was when Venom spoke, through Curly's mouth, just as before.

“You really don't get it, do you? The consequences to your actions. All this pain you've caused, and yet, you still refuse to wake up and take responsibility.”

“What have you done with Curly?! I bet you killed him, didn't you, and now you're just using his body like a shell! Not to mention brainwashing the crew… but I'll defeat you, just you wait!!!”

 Jimmy screamed, his delusions still firmly locked in place.

 But Curly was ready now.

 Ready to face this.

 To cut off this parasite of a man, so that he and his friends could live in peace.

Let's do this, bud. Together.

 Curly took a step forward, and Venom began to speak again.

“The voice is mine, and the body is ours, but listen closely.”

“Because the words you are to hear now are his, and his alone.”

“You think you're doing the right thing, when you do all of these things to everyone around you.”

“You lie…”

“Hurt…”

“Violate…”

“Betray…”

...

“And yet…”

“You still believe in forgiveness.”

“You expect them to thank you.”

“But, Jimmy…”

 The crew all began to close in, all the burning hatred of a thousand suns shining in their eyes.

"That  just isn't how the world works. "

 Before Jimmy could even try to run, it began.

 Daisuke charged in, screaming bloody murder, and swung his metal pipe like a particularly vicious baseball bat, smashing the man right in the chest.

 His ribs shattered, and he fell to the floor, all breath gone from his body as he began to cough up blood.

 Next was Swansea, who laughed as he brought his axe down on Jimmy's arm, severing it at the shoulder.

 Jimmy still hadn't quite caught his breath yet, so he let out a horrible gurgling, choked cry as blood gushed out in a river.

 And now, Anya approached, her eyes completely cold and pitiless.

 She raised the gun with one hand, and aimed it almost casually at Jimmy's crotch.

 She fired. Again and again and again, until the bullets ran out.

 Now, Jimmy did manage to catch his breath. 

 He screamed, and screamed, and screamed in utter agony as every inch of his privates was mangled, until he could scream no more.

 And now, came the moment Venom had eagerly been awaiting.

Go ahead, buddy. It's dinnertime. You've earned it.

 Venom fully enveloped Curly, now at full power, in full control.

 Towering above the dying man below them, their savage knife-toothed grin grew even wider, as they roughly grabbed him by the abdomen, dangling his head over their maw.

 Their long tongue snaked out, just as one final reminder of impending doom, and then they shoved Jimmy's whole head in their mouth, biting down around his neck with a final, satisfying crunch.

 It was over.

 The crew all let out a collective breath, as Venom receded most of the way back into Curly's body, leaving the replacement limbs in place.

 They all stared down at the broken body on the floor.

 The sad pile of flesh that was once a truly disturbed and evil man.

 The joy and utter relief in the air was palpable, and the crew began to talk and laugh amongst one another in triumph, as Curly and Venom started to drag the body towards the airlock like it was nothing more than trash.

 Anya, Swansea and Daisuke all followed, and as Jimmy's mangled body was unceremoniously shoved out the airlock, all of them watched, and smiled.

 They'd done it.

 They'd made it.

 Now, it was time for a fresh start.

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The threat was gone, and now, the crew of the Tulpar had all the time in the world to rest and restore some balance.

 After about a week or so of just taking it easy, Curly and Venom started the process of repairs.

 The autopilot was completely fucked, but with a couple of tweaks, the navigation was just barely functional enough to figure out their co-ordinates, and which direction they were facing.

 Then, with a lot of time and patience, and advice from Swansea, together they periodically went out, clinging to the side of the ship, to fix up the thrusters enough to be just barely functional.

 Curly manually steered the ship towards its destination, taking great care to be as precise as possible. 

 It would take a couple of months to get there with the state of the thrusters, but that was fine.

 They were in no rush.

 When they finally arrived at the planet, Venom sank back into Curly again as he laid down on the old familiar hospital bed. 

 The crew told the authorities most of the truth, namely lying about the circumstances of Jimmy's death. They claimed he'd gone insane, tried to kill them, then killed himself.

 Venom was also not mentioned, as they planned to keep their existence a secret for now.

 They all went home on a different ship, one of the remaining freighters on the planet the company had planned to send back to Earth anyway.

 Over the six month or so journey back, the crew grew even closer as friends, perhaps even a family, one that Venom was surprised to find they were happy to be a part of.

 Finally, they reached their destination.

 And from there, they were all ready to build their lives anew.

 Make a start on a new ladder, and see just how far up they could go.

~~~~~~~~~~

 As soon as she could, Anya had gone back to med school, and was determined to do her best and more.

 Even despite the horrors she'd seen, she was sure that this was what she wanted to do for the rest of her life.

 Becoming a doctor was her dream, and had been for a long time, so she was determined not to let her traumatic experiences hold her back.

 In fact, she'd also started going to therapy, and had found that it helped her a lot.

 Swansea and Daisuke had started their own mechanics-for-hire business, which, because of the crew's 15 minutes of fame from the news story about their miraculous survival, had been doing very well indeed.

 Swansea immediately set himself the task of teaching Daisuke some actually valuable life lessons, rather than whatever cushy bullshit his parents had told him.

 Daisuke was just grateful to have a father figure who actually cared about him.

 As for Curly, he was provided with proper medical care as soon as they landed, and since he was still keeping Venom's existence a secret, he was fitted with robotic prosthetic arms and legs.

 He'd started learning a little sign language, though he generally just preferred to write what he wanted to say.

 The five of them would often all meet up and hang out, usually with Swansea's kids as well on days where he had custody.

 The kids had found out about Venom's existence fairly quickly, but they promised not to tell anyone, and Venom and Curly had since claimed the position of “coolest uncles”.

 And, there's one more thing.

 Though by day, Curly and Venom lived quite a peaceful life, by night, they stalked the darker streets of the city, making sure no horrid individual like Jimmy ever saw another morning.

 Curly honestly didn't mind it, and it kept his friend happy and well-fed.

 And, best of all, not a single former crew member of the Pony Express space freighter the Tulpar ever had to think about that useless bastard Jimmy ever again.

 His mangled, headless, armless corpse is still drifting to this day, frozen solid and forgotten in the far reaches of deep space.

 The end!

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