All Things Dull And Ugly [[ Eddie/Amy]]

[Amy Bloodstone]

The young woman scrunched up her nose as she looked down the wide, gaping, circular hole. Her slightly enhanced senses had already picked up the smell of the sewer water sloshing below – but hell, any ordinary passer by would pick that up as well. It wasn’t exactly something you’d miss. Taking in a deep breath, she then muttered, ”The things I do for my job…” Well, that was a laugh. Her “job”. Her legacy more like. The third hunter in a long line of hunters. Third wasn’t very much, but the line was long because her grandfather had been around for, uh, a very, very long time. Looking about the street, she straightened up from her kneeling position, scrunched her nose one last time and the hopped down the man-hole into the sewers.

The dirty water splashed up her legs as she landed crouched to soften the blow. She shook her head, and straightened up, rubbing the back of her neck. Amy Bloodstone looked about the darkened sewer and slowly her eyes adjusted to the lack of light. She glanced about the section she was in, scanning the walls for any clues. Soon enough, she found her little clue.

”So his weapon ain’t just his ugliness then… Bollocks.” Amy traced the two giants tears in the wall with her finger, and whistled under her breath. They were off to the left of the man hole, and continuing in the direction she found another giant scratch nearer to the ground and disgusting liquid. On the right track, Amy pulled a knife out her back pocket, twirling it over in one hand as she walked onwards trying to ignore the overwhelming stench in the air. For this fight she’d actually for once have preferred some big guns – the Catari demon she was after was deadly up close. Two talons on each hand and each foot, and a blade on the tail. Not too mention it was taller than her by quite a bit. Then again, that wasn’t saying too much. She ran a hand through her hair, then looked at the hand with a disgusted expression. Sewer slime, yuck.

She made a face walking ever further into the lair when a clanging sound halted her. Head tilted, she straightened and stopped walking listening for anything further. After a few minutes of no further sounds, the clang came again. Amy started to run, crouching low to the ground. Turning around a corner, she came face to back with the creature. The ugly thing was looking the other way and was feasting on… Ugh… She didn’t want to know. Shaking herself, Amy knew she just had to get rid of the creature. Her mother had sworn to destroy all monsters, and despite her mother still trying to do that, the job had also fallen to her daughter. After more than 20 years in the hunting business, Amy was tired. And she was only 22! But it was her life, and the only way she knew how to live. So hunting and, and killing was what she’d do. Protecting others, the bloody family business. A scowl worked it’s way on to her face before another clang from the demons tail hitting against the wall made her start. She nearly fell over, but caught herself just in time and hunched low to the ground again.

Watching her prey closely, she waited for a good moment, before pouncing onto the demons back. Her arms circled around the throat of her victim – no no! She couldn’t start thinking of them as ‘victims’. They weren’t victims, the poor guy or gal it had been feasting on was the ‘victim’. Amy didn’t see things in just black and white like hunters should and one of these days it was going to get her killed, she could see that. And boy could she feel it too as she was thrown of the things back, a few feet into a wall. Groaning, she slid down the wall before rolling away as two talons slashed the thing.

Swearing, she scrabbled to get her knife which had fallen when she hit the wall. Not finding it, she shrugged and punched the demon in the face, staggering it just slightly. Guess I’ll have to…” She kicked the demon. ”Improvise.” Roundhouse kick to the things stomach, sending it backwards. Grinning, at that point she spotted her knife and quickly reached for it, spun and through it at the creature where a humans heart should be. The thing squealed then stilled. Amy straightened, a frown on her face as the thing stopped moving.

Was that it? The thing, the demon, dead just like that? The fight hadn’t even taken a minute. And hell, she didn’t even have any scratches, though one helluva headache. ”That’s just dull.”

[Anti-Venom II]

People think that just because your bonded to a Symbiote, you will have two minds. However, that was generally not the case for Eddie Brock Jr. His symbiote was mindless. However, right now this seemed to have changed right now. Eddie wasn't controlling his actions, and his mind was actually taking a bit of a rest. He was still a bit sick from the bouts of illness due to his encounters with the Scorpions that had repeatedly injected him with Osborn's Cure. Due to his symbiote being extremely vulnerable to the Cure, and the fact the symbiote was part of his DNA, Eddie got sick if he was repeatedly injected with the super toxic venom that Norman Osborn had made when his father was Anti-Venom.

Moving into the sewers, Eddie's unconscious form was not even in his human form. Upon taking a nap earlier, the symbiote had taken over, and taken him out. But, instead of going crime fighting, Eddie's symbiotic form had taken him to the sewers, because something was down there that the symbiote wanted to find. Ever since he had gotten his powers fully, his symbiote had been developing a mind of its own. But, Eddie had never known this.

His symbiote had been hiding its mind towards its host, and allowed him to fully access its powers, because it was also part of his DNA, and essentially Edward Brock Jr itself as well, but a darker version of him, due to the symbiote embodying the darker and more negative traits that the young Brock worked so hard to repress. However, Eddie was not to know this just yet.

The whiteness of the symbiote contrasted with the dark and murky texture of the water. However, the symbiote, while being in its slim version right now, was still quite monstrous. It was bumpy and kind of Venom resembling right now. This was not due to Eddie choosing it this way, but the symbiotes preferred way of looking. It would stay like this for a while, even if Eddie regained control of his body. The symbiote pushed its host further, instinctively following its urge. It had an urge to hunt down a Xenophage, unlike other symbiotes that ran from them. This was due to the fact the Anti-Venom symbiote was toxic to them, due to it being fundamentally different to most symbiotes. This Xenophage, however, had developed the power to shape-shift, and had become easier to kill. And the Anti-Venom symbiote had become determined to destroy something that fed off of its species.

Running with the full extent of its super-human speed, Anti-Venom ran towards the place his instinct was leading to him. But it was in a bit of trouble now. Eddie's mind was beginning to awaken, and the symbiote quickly released its hold. Eddie's body stopped near the place the Xenophage was taking shelter in. As his mind fully awake, Eddie was shocked to see where he was. “How the hell did I get here?” Eddie asked this aloud as there was no one near him right now. Looking around wildly, he noticed he was in his symbiote form. “Could my symbiote have sentience?!” Now Eddie was worried. If the Anti-Venom symbiote gained sentience, it would become a power struggle between his mind and his symbiotic DNA's newly found mind and sentience. But, he pushed these thoughts away. For now, he just needed to find whatever it was down here that he had been drawn towards.

Walking forwards, Eddie saw a woman had killed the thing that had probably drawn him towards it. When she commented on it being dull, he leapt down from the pipe he had been standing in and said “I agree. But, those things can be dull. Or, it could just be playing dead. Your choice what you believe.”

[Amy Bloodstone]

Amy inched closer to the demon, quite sure that nothing ever died as easily as it just did, and ready to spring back or launch an attack the moment it moved. Her eyes flickered from the knife in its chest, to its eyes. Eye movement usually signalled an attack – and even though the things eyes were closed you could still see movement beneath the eyelids.

Though Amy was prepared for an attack in front of her, she wasn’t ready for something from behind. As she heard a light splash behind her, she half spun around so that her back wasn’t too the demon and was instead backed against a wall – this way she could see both attackers. Her eyes narrowed as a shadowy figure moved towards her and spoke. Her soft English accent that she’d picked up from her mother shone through as she muttered, ”Bollocks” under her breath. This thing had friends? Again, she was unprepared. Her mother would kill her if she ever found out, God forbid. But she hadn’t been prepared for fighting at all today. In fact, she’d just wanted to relax, maybe go see a film… Anything. Not this. Not spending her time in the sewers beneath a city she rarely ever could walk through without getting in some sort of fight.

Without turning her back on the Catari, she eyed the new-comer warily. There was something… odd about the new demon. The air around it, the way it seemed and felt to her… It was different. It wasn’t bright though – humans always had auras that shone even when they were the darkest shades. This thing wasn’t shining, but there was an aura there, and only humans had that. Confused, Amy stood silent for a moment.

Then, without warning, she used her speed to close the distance between herself and the new-comer and launched a punch in his direction. There was doubt in her still, but she couldn’t afford to not do something. If the thing in front of her was right about the Catari playing dead then she’d have to fight the ugly beast again. And then if the new guy was bad news for her she’d end up fighting on two fronts. Most days, fighting two things at once was a piece of cake for Amy. But lately she’d been having sleepless nights, worrying about herself, and her legacy. Much like her mother, she’d never really wanted to be a demon hunter. Sure, at times it was enjoyable but it was something she’d never had a choice in. It was in her blood and it was her fate. Sometimes she just wished she’d had a choice.

But she didn’t have one and fighting was all she’d ever been trained to do. So in the dark and stench filled sewers, that’s what she did. She took in a deep breath, and focused. What was this new aura surrounding the new guy? As she moved in to try and go for another punch, she scowled at the creature, ”Okay, just what are you? One of this guys buddies, are you? …Bloody demons always, always have friends. That’s not fair!” Now Amy tried kicking him. ”I could use a few of them.”

[Anti-Venom II]

Eddie's red eyes were not glowing as intensely as they sometimes did, but there was a paleness to them. Eddie, for some reason, was sick at the minute. And he wasn't even sure why. Maybe there had still been a bit of Osborn's Cure in his system, and it was causing a bit of damage. Using his Impurity Sense, but on himself, he sensed that there was a very small bit of Osborn's Cure left in his system from four days ago. However, while it wouldn't cause a fatal or even near fatal attack on him, it was enough to weaken him a bit and make him sick. This was even affecting the strength his symbiote gave him, as while he was in his slim form, like now, the strength was reduced to 15 tons. Now, due to his Osborn's Cure sickness, it was at 11 tons.

Eddie was surprised when the girl closed the distance between them in a super-human display of speed, and tried to punch him. He held his palm out, and pushed her fist to the side, making sure he didn't get hit by her. However, Eddie wasn't really in the best of shapes for a fight right now. It was an effort just to keep his symbiote form up, but he would not be able to for much longer. When the girl asked him “Okay, just what are you? One of this guys buddies, are you? …Bloody demons always, always have friends. That’s not fair! I could use a few of them.” When she tried to kick him, Eddie let her, and he stumbled back a bit. Panting, he decided it was time to transform back.

The transformation took a few seconds. It seemed like white vapour was receding into his pores. Nearly falling down, Eddie didn't look that well. He looked paler than usual. Looking at the girl, he managed a faint smile. “First off, I'm not a demon. My name's Brock. Edward Brock Jr. And the thing you just killed is a Xenophage, an alien that can shape-shift. I know because they feed on Symbiotes, which is what I am bonded to and the white thing I was wearing.” Looking at her, he said “So, you hunt demons and monsters? That's interesting.” Eddie had gotten a bit paler, and he felt his symbiote fighting off Osborn's cure.

[Amy Bloodstone]

As her punch was deflected, Amy got a sense of the power in the new demon. Well, part of a sense. The block was poor, not calculated well and if Amy had been going at it with full strength she’d have punched him. Real hard. As it was neither of them seemed to be in the best of shape. Biting her bottom lip as she kicked, she was happy to see that it landed, and watched the new demon stumble back. Okay. That went well.

She straightened up, fists still clenched, but not moving in for the kill just yet. And perhaps it was a good thing she didn’t. Her eyes widened, and her jaw dropped for a second as things started to change on the demon. Shapeshifter? Was he transforming into something worse, something meaner? Was the light just giving him new energy, and if that was the case did Amy need to go out and get back-up – aka, weapons, weapons and more weapons. She took a step towards the wall in the direction of the way out, but paused for some reason she wasn’t sure of. It just didn’t feel time to leave – and at any rate, she still wasn’t sure what was going on. She needed to gather all the information she could.

And then Amy gasped. The aura of the man standing before her was suddenly clear. It was still dark, but she could make it out now – it was human, very human. And so was the sick looking man the aura belonged to. God, oh God I was going to kill a human… All her old fears suddenly sprung up in a quick few seconds and she felt suffocated for a moment as her fists unclenched and she stared at the man in front of her. God… She was the cold-hearted monster. How could she not have known? It was so clear now. Monsters never had auras, but she had just thrown that fact away because it was so dark and dull. This was her nightmare. This was the other half of the coin, the reason she hated her hunting job.

Lost in her suffocation, she barely heard the man speak, but she tuned in at the last second and quickly caught up. She narrowed her eyes, looking over him. He was definitely ill. Even in the dark light she could make out how pale he was – perhaps because of the darkness and dull aura the paleness was accentuated. Amy dragged her mind out of the dark place it had gone to with a sharp, I didn’t actually kill him, didn’t kill, didn’t…, and took in what he’d said. ”Okay, buddy, that thing was a Catari. Look at it. I’ve fought them before.” She tried to speak confidently, and not reveal just how shaken up she was. She was pretty good at that, actually she was excellent at that – the best actress around. Amy could act well and put on masks, and she was doing so now. The guy would never know how messed up he had just made her and that was for the best.

She turned and glanced over at what she thought was the Catari. It was true, it had been killed pretty easily for a Catari demon… Perhaps there was a little bit of truth in the mans words. Amy turned back to him, shoving her hands into her jean pockets, making a small face as she remembered the sewer slime on her hands – all over her now, really – and asked, ”So, what’s a Symbiote?” She then quickly took one hand out her pocket and held it up to stop him talking just for a second, ”And I want the quick, easy answer, not a speech.” Her mind was just to frazzled to take in too much brand new information. Amy was also pretty certain that she had heard of Symbiotes before. Probably. The name was ringing a bell somewhere.

Amy snorted softly, and looked away at his observation, ”Yes. I hunt demons and monsters. And, sure, it’s interesting. In a bad, bad way.” She shoved her other hand back into her jean pocket. Yeah, interesting. At times Amy did love her job – but those times were becoming rarer and rarer, and after attacking a human because of her mistake she didn’t think those times would happen again for a very, very long time. She looked over at Eddie out of the corner of her eyes, ”I’m Amy Bloodstone.” Normally, Amy never gave out her real name – just as a general rule. But after attacking the guy he deserved a little something. Hopefully she hadn’t just made a mistake there.

[Anti-Venom II]

Eddie had been dreading something bad happening while he came down here, and he was not even fully sure why he was down here. Either some external force had controlled his sleeping body, or his symbiote had developed sentience and had forced his body down here, using the fact that its host was sleeping to its advantage. Unless the symbiote revealed its mind and sentience, or Eddie found the thing that had controlled him, he would possibly never know what had caused him to come down here. But, he was a bit scared right now. Ever since his dream, where both his parents had been bonded to symbiotes, he had been showing fear more often, as repressing it was not as easy as it had been once for him. While it was still possible for him to repress his fear, it had become harder.

However, the woman gasping brought Eddie out of his depressed and terrifying thoughts. Maybe she was surprised that he was a normal human being, as he had looked like a slim monster, but a monster none the less. And that was one thing Eddie was afraid of. He was afraid of being seen as a monster, as “Venom, but trying to be a hero.” And that was shaking him to his very core. That he might one day lose control and kill people, and become the very monster that had plagued his family ever since Edward Brock Sr had been bonded to the symbiote that would later cause so much death, destruction, chaos and horror.

This thought and fear caused Eddie to shiver severely. However, it was also in part due to him being ill. Shrugging his black leather jacket closer, Eddie knew why he had fallen asleep earlier. Exhaustion, as he had been making up for lost time these past two nights, and been patrolling the city all night both nights. He had been awake for forty eight hours straight, and he had collapsed from exhaustion earlier.

When the woman said it was clearly a demon, Eddie sighed and delved back into the knowledge that his symbiote had granted him and what his dad had told him. “To you, it looks like a demon you have killed so many times. But, to those bonded to a Symbiote, we can tell what it is. We get this urge to either fight it to the death, or run and cower. These things mostly left earth, but several remained behind to feed on Symbiotes on earth. This one got weak from not feeding, and that is why it died so easy. “

Eddie knew this because, as a journalist and photographer he could pick out minuscule details, and he knew all about the Xenophage's, from a combination of his dad informing him on them, and his own Symbiotes genetic memory allowing him to see the memories of them.

When this woman, who he still had no idea what her name was, asked what a symbiote was and asked for the short answer, Eddie decided to give her the quick and simple explanation. “Basically, they are a race of aliens that need to bond to a host to survive, usually enhancing their natural abilities, and transferring former powers from a host. In the case of mine, it was bonded to Spider-Man. My symbiote is fundamentally different to the others. Was made from a combination of human antibodies and symbiote cells.” That was as short as the explanation could be shortened to. When the woman said her name was Amy Bloodstone, Eddie smiled a bit and said “Pleasure to meet you Amy. And hunting monsters can be difficult. Some symbiotes are monsters, and my father, who was bonded to the first symbiote, now hunts the evil symbiotes. Sorry about my rambling.”

[Amy Bloodstone]

Peering around the dark sewers, Amy started to relax again. Her hunter senses weren’t flaring, and the guy in front of her looked too ill to be causing major problems – though lot’s of little problems could still cause the same annoyance. She took a step away from the wall she was backed up against and felt the disgusting, slimy liquid squelch around her boots. Sewers were horrible places to be – the stains you got just never could be washed out. Well, she certainly had calmed down if she was thinking of getting her clothes cleaned.

As her eyes trained in on Eddie she saw him shudder violently and her eyes widened slightly. Shouldn’t the guy be resting, in bed, or at a hospital or something? He shouldn’t be out at all if he was this ill, never mind down in a disease-ridden sewer where you could catch even-God-doesn’t-want-to-know what. Amy herself wanted nothing more than to curl up in a bed after a long hot shower, and cuddle up to her insomnia as she worried about the crap hand she had been dealt in life. And then, hopefully by tomorrow she’d be right back on top of her hunting game and happy to face the world. On the other hand, she didn’t think this Eddie guy would be getting better over night.

After a slight inspection in the darkness, even she could make out the dark patches under his eyes. So apparently rest hadn’t really been coming to him. Amy watched him sigh softly, and hoped – nearly prayed – that she wouldn’t be getting a lecture. She hated lectures, especially on days such as this when she was already feeling down about her mistakes. The day was already going to haunt her as the day she had almost killed a human.

”You talk like a teacher,” she commented as she took in what he said. A Xenophage… She’d have to tell her mother about them – though perhaps Elsa already knew. She had that big book of monsters, demons and other things that she’d written. And if not, maybe Amy could add a page to her mothers book. She glanced over at the monster, her knife glinting slightly as light from somewhere caught on the hilt. Amy took a quick few strides over and yanked the knife out. Bending down, she wiped the alien goo off on the Xenophage’s leg and shoved the knife in her pocket. Safe, again. ”Alrighty. I’ll admit that it definitely was strange it died so fast.” She gave a small shrug. ”I’ll believe you for now, but don’t be offended if I now have to go and research that myself.” Amy cast him a slight grin, easing into conversation now.

She was tired, confused, and angry at herself for the deeds she had done in under ten minutes. But a valuable skill she had learnt was that sometimes you just had to talk to people. And there was Eddie, he was people. A person bonded to an alien – she thought that may already be in her mothers book though. So, Amy was just going to have to suck it all up and be nice and cheery and friendly – and cry to herself in a ball when she got back to her lame-ass hotel.

At the symbiote speech, she repeated, ”Yeah, definitely sound like a teacher,” and she grinned at him. It wasn’t truly a genuine grin, but it was warm and not mocking. Sides, from that short explanation she could tell it really couldn’t have been shortened any more than what it had been. The name along with the explanation was now ringing a bell in Amy’s mind. She was pretty certain she had heard tale of it before. Whether that was a good or a bad thing she wasn’t entirely sure yet.

”Difficult is one way to put it, I guess, from your point of view. It’s all I’ve known, so the more difficult thing would be to go and act normal and work in an office somewhere. Talk about your terrors, I’d have nightmares if I had to do that.” In fact once, when investigating a possession demon she’d had to apply and work in an office for a week to work out what the demon was doing. So not fun, and not something she wished to do again. Hunting was her thing – and though she both loved and hated it – it would always be where her heart was. She was good at her job, real good. And you don’t waste talent like that. ”Yeah? Seems like we both have quite interesting parents then. Lot to live up to for us.”

Then Amy gave a soft chuckle, and shook her head, more relaxed and open now. Finally getting into the swing of the conversation and not just jabbing at the poor guy. ”Nah, don’t worry. It’s fine. Rambling can be good – in fact it’s one of my particular talents at times. And one I’m not so good at controlling.”

[Anti-Venom II]

Eddie looked around the sewer, as he had thought he had heard a whisper. But that was insane. If there was something else here, would he be able to sense it? He was taping into his symbiotic powers while in his human form, and he couldn't sense any danger. But then he heard it again. A whisper. One single word. freedom. Eddie twisted around, scanning the entire area for any sign of another life form that might have whispered that one word. But, he couldn't see or sense anything, and it was starting to scare him. But, he clamped down on his fear, as it was not the time to be hysterical. Accessing the accelerated healing factor of his suit, he smiled a tiny bit as his illness was fully defeated.

The toxic venom that Norman Osborn had made to combat Anti-Venom, and that was still in Eddie's system, was weakened. This allowed him to beat it by accessing his symbiotes healing powers, and he already looked better, as his paleness faded. Stretching a bit, Eddie almost fell over as he heard another whisper I want my frrreeedom! Twirling around, Eddie's eyes briefly took on a red sheen, as he tried to see something that might or might not be there. However, he didn't see anything hiding in the shadows, and he was very sure that it could not be his symbiote. At least, he didn't think that it was. He had no way of knowing, as every time he approached his symbiotic DNA, he never sensed any mind in the fabric of its DNA. He said “Sorry about me turning and twisting so much. I just feel like I can hear something....something whispering. But its not out loud. Its more like my own voice, in my head....I don't think I've gone insane. Sorry about this though.” Looking down, Eddie rubbed his face. “I might still be a bit delirious. I've had the flu for the last two days, and sleep hasn't been coming easy.”

When Amy said that he talked like a teacher, Eddie just chuckled. “Sorry. I was raised to be formal, and I guess that it makes me sound like a teacher. I'm not. I'm a photographer for the Daily Globe.” As he talked to Amy, he wondered what it was like to hunt demons and monsters. He had only ever faced some monsters....Including a giant snake, and several insane and crazy symbiotes. But, his enemies had always been humans, super-humans or Asgardians, as well as the occasional cyborg. He'd never face true monsters or demons, just what some people perceived to be monsters and demons. Eddie nodded when Amy said she would need to research it later and said “Be my guest.”

Eddie gave Amy a grin back when she grinned at him after repeating he sounded like a teacher. He listened to her, and nodded. He wasn't working full time at the Daily Globe, and he had never really worked in an office. His own career was more centred around being Anti-Venom and being an Avenger. When she said that they both had quite interesting parents and a lot to live up for, Eddie decided to speak. He spoke after she seemed to fully relax. “Well, I live up to my father's reputation as Anti-Venom and beyond that. I also live up to his former career as a journalist a bit. But, symbiote hunting kind of crosses a line for me. Its mainly because, well, I'm bonded to a symbiote.” To illustrate his point, Eddie allowed his suit to manifest almost fully. It came forth up to his neck, in its slim, Spider-Man like form, but without the mask. He then forced it to recede, but he felt a twinge as he did so, as if something wanted him to fully shift to symbiote form.

[Amy Bloodstone]

Amy took her hands out of her pockets and rubbed them together to bring some warmth into them. Now that she wasn’t fighting and being all tense, it had suddenly hit her just how cold the place was. She really was going to catch some sort of illness down here, and then where would that leave her? Useless in a bed drinking soup? Ugh. No, she’d have to work off whatever she’d catch down here. Looking over at the demo—no, no, alien she caught a sharp movement out of the corner of her eye. Twisting around she spotted Eddie scan the area. But she didn’t tense up. Her senses hadn’t picked anything out – and she was pretty sure they’d pick up something wrong in an instant, they went haywire if she ran into some new evil after just fighting. The tiredness in her most likely causing this, making her want to go with the ‘flight’ part of fight or flight.

Tilting her head, she watched him curiously and shoved her hands back into her pockets. He was acting odd. Or at least, she assumed this was his odd behaviour, she could really make any judgement calls on him after five minutes of talking. She then nodded slightly at he explained his actions without her asking. That was a good thing she supposed. ”Voices in the head are never a good sign, but…” She shrugged lightly, ”Yeah, it could just be the whole being sick thing. It hits people differently, it’s probably just some knock-back effect after the whole mini fight thing.” Or at least she hoped it was. What she had said was true – voices in the head? Never, ever good. Hell, she didn’t like it if even telepaths were talking in her head – they just muddled things up.

Rocking slightly on her feet she took in the information. A photographer. Nifty. She was useless with cameras. Always seemed to get people in the wrong light, or miss people out. Not that she had ever actually had much of an opportunity to use a camera on people… Or ever wanted to. ”Ah, well, I was trained in extremely informal and strange ways.” That was true. Brought up by her mother – who was odd in herself – as well as her friends. Boom Boom wasn’t exactly queen of niceties and formality, and The Captain? God, she remembered hearing about the time that he had sworn so badly that Captain America had actually beaten him up. So she was certain that quite a few bad habits would have leaked there way through to her. ”Can’t say I’m much good with cameras either. Is it a good job? Must be pretty cool at times.” She gave a small smile as she looked over at him.

Nice. Small chat in a sewer. She picked weird places to meet new people. But it was quite nice not to be worried about fighting for a while. The guy seemed alright, and as she had no reason not to trust him the small talk didn’t matter too much. Though the stench of the sewer was once more starting to get to her. She watched with a careful, but still slightly relaxed eye as he sort of shifted partly into the form she had seen before. The effect was strange. She had seen shifters change before and it was sort of like that she supposed. As he moved back to normal, Amy gave a nod, ”Living up to him as Anti-Venom and then in your normal job must be kinda tough. But then it’s kinda a role model thing too, I guess. Someone to talk to about whatever the hell happens to you. Bit of good, bit of bad.” Amy gave a light shrug. She supposed she too had kinda a lot to live up to – but then no one had actually heard of the Bloodstones, so her expectations seemed to be kept just within her family. Though in a way that was worse, no one outside of it to talk to about what happened, no one outside who knew what was going on with her and why she was fighting. But that was the life of a Bloodstone, and perhaps one day like her mother she’d end up in a small team with some others like her. She could dream.

[Anti-Venom II]

Eddie yawned a tiny bit. He was still tired, and he just wanted to go home and sleep. The dark patches under his eyes just showed how tired he was. However, he needed less sleep than a normal human, as he was thirty five percent symbiote and this meant he slept two hours less than the average human, allowing him to feel fully refreshed after only six hours of sleep. However, forty eight hours of being awake was still enough to take a toll on him, even though he was not fully human. Rubbing his face, he forced himself to stay awake for a tiny bit longer. He just needed to stay awake long enough to leave the sewers and get home to his apartment. Looking at Amy, he noted how she had been looking around. However, his impurity sense was telling him something. She was beginning to get the flu. “Hey, listen...My symbiote allows me to sense impurities, like the flu and sickness, in people. Its telling me your beginning to get the flu. I can cure you up of it if you want. My symbiote allows me to heal people. So, I mean, its your choice. I can help you from getting sick though.”

Looking at his arm, Eddie smiled a tiny bit as it became engulfed in the white substance that his symbiote consisted of. He only had to partially shift to use some of his powers, like his internal bodily cleansing. Unlike his dad, who needed to use all his finger tips to heal someone, he could cleanse people just by putting his palm onto them. He still preferred to elongate his finger tips to do it, but it didn't matter that much. He either healed someone with a single touch, or with his finger tips elongated. When she said about it being possibly his sickness, Eddie nodded and said “Yeah. Its been rough these last two days, the sickness. I'll be fine though.” Looking at Amy again, Eddie noted how she was actually cute. She seemed tough, but cute.

”Ah, well, I was trained in extremely informal and strange ways. Can’t say I’m much good with cameras either. Is it a good job? Must be pretty cool at times.” Eddie chuckled a bit when Amy told him this. “Well, I had informal training in my powers. My dad gave up his symbiote to cure the city of this Spider-Virus over twenty years ago, so he could only tell me how to use my powers properly. Its actually a good thing the symbiotes have Genetic memory and Ancestral call. Its a long story though. And being a photographer and journalist isn't that bad. I mean, its good pay and its a good profession. Plus, I enjoy it.” Smiling a bit, he noticed how he seemed to have gained a perpetual smile right now. However, what she said next surprised him.

“Living up to him as Anti-Venom and then in your normal job must be kinda tough. But then it’s kinda a role model thing too, I guess. Someone to talk to about whatever the hell happens to you. Bit of good, bit of bad.” Amy seemed to understand what he meant. She probably had a lot to live up to as well. “Well, recently I haven't been able to talk to him about all the things that have been happening. He's been becoming withdrawn, and angry. Like he's hunting three symbiotes that he hates, but they keep evading him. And I know everything he did as Anti-Venom because of the unique memory of the symbiote. But, he's still a decent role model. Now, what about you? Do you have to live up to anything? And if you want, I can take you back to your house or hotel.”

[Amy Bloodstone]

A hiss came from somewhere along the tunnel, and Amy tilted her head slightly to look in the direction, before sensing no danger. It was more than likely just a pipe letting out some steam. Why did places the evil guys lurk in have lots of things that sounded, well, evil? That really wasn’t playing fair – it made her startled and on edge every now and then, though of course, being evil meant not being fair, didn’t it? Turning back to Eddie she spotted him yawn, and gave herself a mental star for being right earlier. Guy was exhausted. Then, Amy yawned herself as the contagious yawn spread to her. As she stretched her arms out in front of her she heard Eddie talk, and her eyes darted over to his, her arms still stretched out in front of her. One eyebrow raised, she stared for a second, then let her arms drop to her side and laughed. ”So you’re alien is like a freakin’ doctor? You could make good money with that ya know. Hell, you’d only need to do it and be right the first few times to get a good reputation then you could do whatever you like.” She nodded, folding her arms and looking over at him. Amy had no way of knowing if the guy was telling the truth or not about her having the flu. It was strange, her enhanced healing rarely let her get just the flu, but then again she had been down in the sewers a while, and her insomnia had lowered her defences. She shrugged, ”Uh, okay, Witch Doctor. What kinda healing thing do you do? Cuz, I’m game for it. As long as it doesn’t require anything weird.” She grinned over at him. It’d be cool to try out, she was always up for learning new things.

Amy gave a soft smile and nodded, arms still folded. ”Sickness gets us all… But okay, if you say you’ll be fine. It’s all about mind over matter or.. Or whatever that saying is. Is that it? Mind over matter?” She glanced away, biting her bottom lip and thinking. ”Mind over matter is a weird saying. Like hand over fist. Never got that. But apparently hand over fist is a good thing.” She paused, then flashed Eddie a bright grin. ”Ah, see here… Your rambling has gotten me started. And no one wants that, least of all me.”

Listening to him explain his training, she wondered idly what his life had been like. It was usually quite interesting to hear back-stories. The past shaped the present – another handy phrase she used almost never. From what he said she gathered that he’d been using his powers a long time, or at least had had them for a very long time. Kinda like herself, except hers wasn’t as flashy as his. Shifting was pretty neat, and when Eddie had been shifted into this symbiote form he had looked quite fierce. But in her line of work it was better not to look big and tough, it was better to look young and small – that meant you looked tastier for the vamps and monsters out there. Like moths to a flame they came to the Bloodstone. ”Well, genetic memory and ancestral call sounds like a bundle of laughs… But if it’s a long story I don’t think this is the time to hear it. Uh, no offence but…” She unfolded her arms, and swept one out across the tunnel. ”Not the nicest place to hear long stories, is it?”

She watched him closely as he explained a bit more. It was clear he really did have a lot to live up to. ”Sounds tough. Weird kinda life. And y’know I’m pretty certain I have heard of your father.” She twirled a strand of her hair, absently and thought. ”I’m more than sure, actually. I definitely have heard of him. So now I’m saying that it must be tough with even more conviction.” She gave him a small smile. It was true. She could remember a few tales her mother had told him of Eddie’s father, and from what she had gathered he had been pretty famous in his own way. Amy paused and folded her arms once more at his question about herself. What to say? After hearing Eddies tale she wasn’t sure what to say. Sure. She had a lot to live up to. But… She shrugged, ”Nothing like you. It doesn’t matter.” Well, it did matter – to her, but she had no right to shift her woes and burdens to someone else. And at any rate, to anyone else trying to live up to and exceed expectations her tale of being a hunter would fall short of winning any prize. And hell, it would probably seem so pathetic she wouldn’t even get the consolation prize.

”Actually no. I think I’m going to make this place my new home.” She patted the cold wall tenderly, then made a face as she got slime on her hand and once more rubbed it off on the Xenophages arm. ”Ugh. Okay, no. Definitely getting out of this place.” Amy turned back to Eddie. ”You can? I suppose that’d be quite good. If it’s not any trouble, yeah.”

[Anti-Venom II]

Eddie heard a hiss from somewhere deep within the tunnel, and he instinctively shifted into his symbiote form. When he realized that it might have just been a pipe, he chuckled and said “Sorry. I've got an instinct where, if I hear something that I interpret as danger, I automatically switch into my symbiote form.” As he said this to her, he switched back, his symbiote slowly receding back. He could have allowed it to be an instantaneous transformation back, as he did have full control of his symbiotic form. But, he heard the same whisper from earlier, but even louder, and it repeated itself several times. Blocking out the mental voice, Eddie wondered if it was a telepath that was saying this, but he doubted it. It could have been some darker, split personality that was trying to gain its freedom.

Shaking off the dark thoughts that were threatening to burst through his normal thoughts, Eddie let his symbiote come forth over his entire upper body apart from his face. Smiling at Amy, he said “I could have done that, but it would be dangerous, as many people still don't trust symbiotes. But, if your ready, I'll fix you up.” Rubbing his palms together, he took one of her hands in both of his. A look of fierce concentration came to Eddie's face. He always had to focus when cleansing someone while he was human. And there was a special reason that he could do this. When Martin Li had cured Eddie Brock Sr of his cancer, the remnants of the Venom Symbiote had fused with the anti-bodies in Eddie Sr. The millions of anti-bodies that made up the suit were endowed with healing abilities, and every time Eddie Jr healed someone, some anti-bodies were released into the person. However, they were self replicating, allowing him to regularly self sustain his suit without having to contribute his own anti-bodies and white blood cells to replenish his symbiote.

Eddie chuckled when Amy said that his rambling had gotten her started, as she had actually rambled a good bit. He had fully healed her off the flu that she would have gotten. But, he thought that the rambling was a nice thing. Rubbing his hands together, Eddie's symbiote receded so fast that it appeared to have just disappeared without it becoming vapour. Eddie used this instantaneous transformation most of the time, as it was something that helped him to switch between his regular form and symbiote form very quickly. The legacy of Anti-Venom and Venom had started with Spider-Man. Venom was somewhere out there, and the legacy of Anti-Venom was still continuing with Edward Brock Jr himself. Some day, his symbiote would spawn a new one and the legacy would continue, well into the future probably. Especially if Eddie's children, if he had any, gained his symbiotic DNA.

Eddie listened to Amy as she continued to speak. She was interesting to talk to, and it was nice that she was showing some insight on her life. She seemed to have a legacy to live up to as well, and it didn't matter if she was beginning to ramble. When she said she was going to make this place her new home, Eddie chuckled a bit and said “Oh, sure that's a good idea. Live somewhere that is so damp, cold, and disease ridden.” He had taken on a sarcastic voice because he thought it was a good idea to be a bit sarcastic. He had remained quiet while she was speaking because he thought it was good manners. When she asked if it would be good, but only if it wasn't any trouble. Smiling, he allowed his symbiote to come forth for the final time for the night. However, it was more in a Spider-Man shape and form, as he now looked like a white version of Spider-Man. “Don't worry, it won't be any trouble. Get on my back and I will get you to the place your staying at.”

[Amy Bloodstone]

The hissing sound appeared to have startled the other living inhabitant of the tunnel Amy was pleased to note. At least it meant that she wasn’t the only one still a little bit on edge after the fight. It had been over quickly but Amy had been tired and worried – and of course even now her body and mind was still recovering from the shock and horror of attacking Eddie. A human, sure with a little bit of a difference, but a human all the same. What would happen if the same thing happened again? What would happen if she was attacked by vampires up above, in an alley or a park at night – would she stake the vampire and then stake a human too, by mistake, still all caught up in the prior fight? Most of the time Amy was perfectly capable of holding off these thoughts and locking them away, but there were a lot of parts to her job that just didn’t make sense to her. Like the fact that, were all demons and monsters evil? Did they deserve to be killed?

But god, those were just depressing thoughts and she could feel the features of her face taking on a solemn expression for a fraction of a second so quickly gave in to good-natured laughter at Eddie’s startle - which looked much more impressive than her quick turn of the head and clenching of fists. She was now determined not to delve further into those thoughts until she was able to handle them with care. ”Yeah, don’t worry about it. I got a little startled by the noise as well. If it helps, I'm pretty certain it's an evil pipe. Uh huh.” She smiled and gave a soft shrug, looking down at the ground for a second before turning back to Eddie. The conversation was flowing more easily now – despite her occasional fears and memories of her previous actions. Hopefully it was just as easy to do as it was to say - and Amy had to admit that talking to Eddie had helped her take her mind of things. So there was a big plus there.

She watched, curiously, as Eddie shifted and stepped forward. Healing was a strange thing to Amy. She herself had quite exceptional healing powers – not super power, precisely, but things that would takes to heal normally took only a few days for her. So if she had in fact caught the flu, she’d only be holed up for a little while – and in all honesty she needed to stop hunting for a little while and do normal things. But, she was interested in the various ways of healing, so accepted the offer and allowed her hand to be taken by his. For a second she didn’t think anything had happened, and even after Eddie had stepped away she still couldn’t tell much of a difference – except her thoughts were a little clearer but… Well, the flu really had been caught and stopped quickly. Amy took her hand back and folded her arms against her chest again. ”Okay. Thanks – I think. Unless you found a weird way to poison or infect me through touch,” she joked brightly. The thanks had been quite genuine, however.

She shifted her weight from foot to foot as she talked. It was a little hard for her to just stay still – Amy was usually quite the fidgeter. She laughed softly and nodded, ”Hey, those kind of places work for some people you know.” She smiled, then raised an eyebrow at his next statement. ”’Just get on your back’? Seriously? That’s a weird thing to say to someone y’know. Is this like a… Like a super piggy-back?” Amy tilted her head and looked at him, amused. But the thing was he did not appear to be joking at all. She glanced around the sewer then shrugged, ”Okay, okay. On your back it is. But I hope this is a normal thing for people you give lifts too. I’d hate to be the odd one out.” Which was surprising, she was always the odd one out. ”Uh, I’m living at the Redding Motel. Uh, it’s the crappy looking one on the outskirts.”

[Anti-Venom II]

Eddie hadn't expected to react so strongly to that weak hissing that had come from down the tunnel. It had been a weak hiss, but Eddie was a bit on edge right now. The whispering that had been happening his head was causing him to be on edge, and weary. He wasn't sure if his symbiote was gaining sentience, or if his own mind was just reflecting his symbiote would have if the symbiosis between Eddie and the Anti-Venom symbiote contained two consciousnesses in it. He honestly had no idea, and if he was lucky he would never need to know why this was happening to him. But, what neither Eddie or the Symbiote knew was that everything would change soon, and that they would both have tough times ahead of them. They would both just need to wait and see what would happen in the future.

Rubbing his face, Eddie rolled his shoulders as well. His body wanted to sleep, but he needed to stay awake for a bit longer, so he could return to the surface, and possibly take Amy home. He'd need at least two showers to get the stink of the sewer off of him. He could just dry clean his jacket. But, he had bigger problems then getting his leather jacket dry cleaned or steamed. He needed to find out what was causing these whispers in his mind, making him a bit on edge right now, and so far he felt like it might drive his already slightly unstable mind further into the realms of insanity, causing him to become a monstrosity of a symbiote, like Cletus Kassady had been in the past as Carnage. If that happened, Eddie would fight for his sanity and set up procedures. But, he wanted to wait several months to see if it happened. However, he knew that he might just be imagining the voices in his mind.

Chuckling when Amy thanked him and said she was hoping he wouldn't infect or poison her through touch, Eddie chuckled more. “Well, lets see. My super-hero name is Anti-Venom.... If my name was Venom, then you would know for sure that I'd be poisoning you. But, my suit produces Anti-Bodies that heal people, not poison them. Don't worry Amy. And your welcome.” He had noticed that her thanks was genuine, and he was glad that she was not faking her thanks. He was always happy when someone thanked him for something, even if it was as small as stopping a robbery, or something as big as saving the city from an insane symbiote that is in a symbiosis with a crazy or immature host. The immature ones were just as bad, if not worse, than the crazy ones, as they were child-like and acted like children when facing other symbiotes. And it all made Eddie happy to be in a symbiosis where he was not being controlled, manipulated or even forced to do something against his will, which was what his father had explained so many times was the reason you should be weary and afraid of symbiotes that had malicious intentions. It was one reason he was afraid to face any symbiotes that would try and bond with him.

Chuckling a bit, Eddie said “Yeah, the sewers work for some people. And yeah, just hop onto my back. The symbiote has adhesive powers, and you'll be really secure, even if I go fast while web-swinging.” Walking to Amy, he gently picked her up and placed her on his back. “Now, this might seem weird, but its just a precaution.” As he said this, Eddie sent a string of webbing around himself, securing Amy to his back. Running to the exit, Eddie leaped through it and took off. Leaving the sewer within a few minutes, he leapt into the air once they were on the surface. Swinging from building to building with a slightly frightening speed. As he approached the hotel, he landed down and broke the webbing. Putting Amy down, he changed back to his normal form. Pulling out a piece of paper, he also pulled out a pen and he scrawled down his number. “If you ever want to meet up or just talk, give me a ring on this number. I need to go. Talk to you some other time.” Turning around, Eddie tapped into his powers in human form and leapt into the air, and begun to swing away. However, both his strength and webbing were at one tenth their usual power.