When Eddie regained consciousness, he found himself lying on an ice-cold tiled floor. Clutching his throbbing head, he pushed himself upright, braced himself with his forearm, slipped, and fell right back down.
Rubbing his aching shoulder with his right hand, Eddie looked around. Through his blurry vision, he realized that he had also ended up in a filthy hospital ward.
Only then did his memories come flooding back. Eddie recalled the last thing he had seen before coming here.
A massive explosion.
He and Schiller had embarked on an interdimensional business trip, and at the exact moment they stepped through the portal, the transport device exploded violently.
Eddie forced himself to sit upright, knees bent as he pressed a hand to his head and called inwardly, "Venom... Venom!"
"I'm here."
"Then why didn't you say anything just now?" Eddie roared. "I thought something happened to you."
"Mm..."
Venom rarely made such a low sound, and Eddie tensed at once. Then Venom said, "Because I was thinking about which was funnier: you worrying about Schiller, or you worrying about me. Hahahahahaha!"
Hearing Venom's steady, powerful laughter, Eddie let out a breath and collapsed back onto the floor, his legs going limp. Venom added in his head, "Has it occurred to you that you're the weakest one among us? Instead of worrying about us, worry about yourself."
"So Doctor Schiller is okay too?"
"What illusions do you still have about him?" Venom said in the tone one might use on an idiot. "If this wasn't his doing, I'll quit chocolate for a week!"
That practically counted as a blood oath, so Eddie said half-believingly, "You mean Schiller blew up the portal? But why would he do that? What would be the point?"
"The greatest point is watching you scream bloody murder," Venom