YHaY; We Are Venom

''SCP-299, cheer up, now. It is your birthday, today after all.''

''Get bent.''

''Oh, how I love your sense of humor. You do know that escape is futile, do you not? The last two times, indeed were because of the incompetence of others; and I'm talking to you, Jerry!''

''Yes, sir. . .''

''He's lucky I didn't skewer him either time.''

''That does beg the question of why you chose to kill 17 scientists and guards, but not dear Jerry when he was the first in your sights on either occasion?''

''Hmmph. Kill is. . .overrated to me. Just simple self-defense, plus I like Jerry. He's not a massive dick, unlike you.''

''If exploding the bodies of my colleagues from the inside out is considered defense, I shudder to think what applies as a fair fight.''

''You know I'll just escape. There's always a backdoor you guys don't account for.''

''You may try, but we have found a way to quell your rage; for if you do not, then she. . .will die by your hand.''

''What? You. . .no. You didn't. You didn't. HOW COULD YOU TURN HER INTO A FREAK?!'' the cell rumbled and shook as he growled, using his massive claws to swipe at the plexiglass, to no avail. Every single swipe resulted in the force almost negating the momentum entirely. He punched, again and again, if he could make the smallest crack then he could make something happen.

''Oh, no, no, no. My dear boy, you misunderstand. We have elevated her, to an entirely different level than you. She stands at the pinnacle of what we are attempting to accomplish. She is the one who will lead the new world order, and you are becoming more and more obsolete. It is the natural way of things; Alpha and Beta.'' a bout of snickers echoed before exploding into a cacophony of laughter that swallowed up the entire room. ''She is no more a freak than you are normal.''

One final slam against the glass did nothing as he trembled, enraged and confused at why this was happening to him. Why did he have to be in this position? To kill those who were deserving, and those who were not?

And why was he his own worst enemy?

''Sleep, now SCP-299. You may wish to save your strength for the main event; you and that filthy host of yours. . .''

''For the last time-'' the room began to rattle and shake but failed to perturbed the individual who walked away. The different sensors were firing off, blaring, and warning of something. The floor began to creak as the riveted panels began to become undone and fly every which way, nearly decapitating the heads of a few of the scientists that stood and watched in horror as his mental state began to spike. ''WE ARE VENOM!!!!!''

6 months ago. . .

Ah, social gatherings. How I love and hate them. It was always good to help and make new friends and build connections, but also a bit unfavorable as sometimes people can be a drain for even the simplest of things. The turnout rate every always seemed to increase. All of the stalls were packed to the brim with people, wearing different costumes from tv, movies, game, and anime.

Against the better wishes of my friend, Cecil, I chose to attend the festivities as the Venom Symbiote. He always was given the short end of the stick in the comic books, and while most consider him a villain, I see him more as misunderstood.

Granted those who he killed originally did not help his case, different iterations of him however did. My costume itself was definitely not cheap either, it mostly was comprised of wetsuit material, so clung pretty close to the body, and the giant white splotch on the back resembling Spider-Man's symbol took time to get just right. I debated against wearing shoes or boots, but boots called out more to me as they were more practical in giving me a more edgy look. My eyeholes were about as good as you would expect with the white eyes, but I made it work.

My friend, Cecil however chose to go as Hawkeye from Marvel's Avengers. And it fit the overall look of his build. He chose to play the bit as close as he could all the way to the thin, purple shade down to the boots. He even had an actual bow and arrows. If security actually stopped and questioned us, I feel we would be kicked out. Ever since I could remember, this guy was the man with the plan; every time we got into any kind of trouble, he would always have some rhyme or reason to get us off scot-free.

If not for him, I would more than likely not be here, at least not in one piece.

''So how long you thinking we should pursue the booths? You know we can't be here for long,'' Cecil commented to me as he draped his arm over his neck. That was true. This year we couldn't stay long because of the bus routes conflicting with our schedules for tomorrow. Ugh, I hate working sometimes. Why can't Monday just not exist?

I adjusted his crooked glasses as he parted from me and walked down the narrow strip of carpet that was flanked by booths and other event-goers squeezing in and out to their own destinations. ''Probably another hour,'' I sighed out, feeling some of my breath reach my eyes due to the lack of proper ventilation in this mask. We had gotten a few items and ordered some others to be delivered to our places, got some comics signed, and even made some new friends for our online gaming team. So, in all, it was a good day for me. ''I just want to see if there's anything else that may catch my eye before we get ready to leave and-Cecil?'' I asked, seeing my friend fawn over a girl dressed up as Hsien-Ko from Darkstalkers.

''Yea, yea, you go ahead. I just found a villain I need to consult,'' Cecil grinned like a pervert, slowly stalking over to the girl who hopped to the other end of the hall with her friends dressed up as Morrigan, Chun-Li, and Korra. ''If I don't make it back in time, you why.''

''Ok, gross for one.'' I pointed a finger at him as I shot him a look of disappointment. ''And two; you know she's actually a hero, right?'' that only further fueled him to laugh and wave his hand in a go away gesture. Should have kept my mouth shut.

''Be that as it may Vincent, that ass of hers is diabolical, and as a hero and member of The Avengers, it is my duty to investigate that booty,'' Cecil jogged after the girls. ''Call me before you get ready to leave!''

Oh my goodness. ''The friends I surround myself with,'' I facepalmed, catching the attention of a smaller guy dressed up like Toad from Mario.

''I know that feeling.'' Toad responded, shooting me a look of knowing as I continued on my own way to see what else was there.

''Oh, what do you know? You're Toad,'' I commented, making him deflate.

"Aww. . .''

Putting that aside, I weaved in and out of various costume wearers as I looked around and failed to see anything that would instantly catch my attention. Only in my spaced-out mind space, was I not paying enough attention to the booth I ended up hitting my knee into as I leaped back and hissed. Damn it!

''Gotta be more careful, my friend,'' a very deep, but calm voice filled with mirth called out to me as I wiggled my leg to shake off some of the pain if possible. ''I don't think you have extra knees to go swapping out.''

Great, we have a grade a smartass here. Manging to look at who spoke to me, I saw a booth that was relatively barren. It was shoddily put together with nails, what appeared to be glue, and just with luck. On the blackened tarp sat. . .cards?

''And you are?'' I looked to the man who was monstrously sized, appearing like a pure mountain of muscle with almost no fat. He wore a dark grey cloak on his person, which I couldn't see what else he was wearing, but something felt. . .off. The look of indifference in his brown eyes did little to calm me from wondering what the heck he was selling. He reached and took the hood of his head, the small weighted beads on his braided auburn beard dangled around as he showed me his head, bald and very, very shiny. A tattoo of some kind of symbol sat just under his right eye died in dark blue, green and

''It's Celtic; it's the symbol of the Triquetra, not that I expect you to know what that means.'' the man folded his arms and stared at me as I must have stared too long. It was hard not to. ''And my name is Evander.''

Quickly apologizing, I stepped back some and watched as Evander swept his hands out in front of the cards as if to show them off to me. The cards were all face down, adorned with more symbols, which I assumed to be Celtic as well. ''If you so desire, I will read your fortune and tell you what it is that you can except for the future,'' Evander said as he began to shuffle the rest of the cards in his hand, waiting to hear my answer.

I very much held a doubt that my future could be told, in any accurate way. And from the look of Evander, it seemed like he wouldn't just let me walk away. Plus him being very large also worried me a bit. Plus, what could it hurt? ''Ok, lay it on me.'' I walked back to the table, looking at Evander's handwork like lighting as he shuffled and laid the cards down away from me. ''What is your name?''

''Vincent Josiah,'' I replied, folding my arms and observing as he whispered to the cards before flipping the first card over, showing the image of an angel with their eyes closed and wings extended, hovering above a small body of water. The white robe they wore portrayed a square outline with a yellow triangle in between two chalices that were held in their hands, connected by what looked to be water. One foot was dipped in the water.

''The first card, Temperance is possibly the most important of the three. It represents balance, the perfect harmony that comes from the union of dualities. The advice here would be to test any new waters, before jumping in.'' Evander said, pushing the card towards me as he turned his attention towards the second card.

''So I should tread carefully?' I asked, the shushing of Evander making me a little bit miffed. Next, he placed his hand on the second card, slowly turning it over and letting a sound curiosity out as he read.

''Ah. The second card; The Chariot. This card is the embodiment of overcoming any challenge securing victory through maintaining control and power. This perfect balance will cause you to emerge victorious in any encounter. The use of strength and willpower will ensure that you overcome the challenges that lie in your path. This message comes to make you stronger as you strive to achieve your desires.'' Evander slid the next card towards me, though once he did, I began to feel a bit light-headed. I shook my head to regain my focus, and I could have sworn that I saw him crack a smile.

''S-So. . .I need to be strong and in control?'' my head began to pound. My eyes started blurring as Evander began his last reading.

''And lastly, we have the card of Death. Possibly one of the few things that will never be tamed. Death is a part of life, and also the catalyst to birth life anew. One must learn, overtime to not fear it unless one wishes to accelerate that which has already been decided. It is the culmination of all things in the world that will eventually come full circle and paint the picture of the next life to come,'' I began to slowly slump over on the table, Evander managing to catch me with one of his gargantuan hands. I was able to crane my head enough to see the look of pure and unadulterated bliss on his face as he slid the last card towards me.

''W-What did you d-do?'' I weakly clawed my hand towards him as he laid it on the table. My vision began to black as the sounds around me were drowned out. I felt the heat of something creeping through my entire being before one last thing that he managed to say came through my ears.

''When you wake, you shall have the power of what you wear, and that will be all the better for them,'' I slowly closed my eyes, and all feeling soon disappeared.

When I awoke, the first thing I was able to make sense of was. . .a feeling of being constricted? I felt like the body of a Boa Constircotrs had its grip on me, but it was more of a cylindrical grip versus being that of a cone. I could barely move as I barely was able to pick up the sound of conversation. The sound of buttons being pressed and the faint sound of screams as I listened in more intently.

''And how well do you think this batch will be, Dr. M?''

''Very well, Jerry. Very well. After our scouts were able to subdue the subject as well as dispose of the infected one, we managed to secure a new subject; this one certainly has more kick to it than the others. Somehow it managed to bond to subject A and defend the filly from the infected one. The compound appears unstable, and there have been some side effects from the reports.'' Dr. M commented.

''Such as?'' Jerry asked, scribbling down what Dr. M was saying for the record. ''Any cellular degradation?''

''Not that we could witness in the field right away. But we have been noted of unbridled aggression at the point of separation.'' Dr. M scoffed. ''Note this for the logs; subject denomination A; SCP-299 and denomination B; SCP-299 A. Place them both in level 6 holding until further notice.''

''Yes, Dr. Right away,'' Jerry responded loud and proud. ''To The Collective.''

''To The Collective. And may Celestia bless us with success.'' Dr. M said a prayer and continued. ''For the good of Equestria.''