We Are All the Same Kind

Three heavily disguised weirdos sat in an off-road vehicle.

"Boss, do we really need to dress like this?"

Wade tugged at the mask on his face. It was June, after all.

"We're going to steal something. If we don't dress like this, do you want trouble afterward?"

Kino ate another piece of chocolate and let out a burp. The chocolate wrappers beside him had already piled up into a small hill.

"Boss, what are we stealing that's worth spending this much money?"

"The Life Foundation found an alien symbiote in outer space. It can grant its host tremendous strength and powerful regenerative abilities. I have to get it."

Kino did not hide anything. If he didn't tell them, these two wouldn't give it their all.

"That good? If you hadn't paid me, Boss, I'd want one too." Wade joked as he drove. A boss this generous was hard to find.

"Sure. There's more than one symbiote inside. But these symbiotes all have their own consciousness and desires. If you can't suppress one, it'll control you instead."

"Then forget it. I don't want a third person showing up while I'm sleeping with Vanessa. But aren't you worried about being controlled, Boss?"

"That's why I came with you two—to pick one that's easy to get along with."

Logan drove up front and glanced at TNT in the passenger seat. "Kid, you must have another objective, right?"

"Yeah. One of the symbiotes craves world domination. She's too dangerous. We have to eliminate her."

Kino remembered Riot inside—the strongest symbiote. If she successfully brought the symbiotes from an entire planet to Earth, what would be the point of playing around anymore?

"Even if the symbiote you mentioned can grant its host tremendous strength, there are only a few of them. It's impossible."

"What if there are millions?"

"!!!"

Logan slammed on the brakes, stopping in the middle of the road.

Logan and Wade both turned to look at Kino.

"You're serious?"

"This is getting exciting."

Kino looked at them seriously and nodded. "The Life Foundation brought the symbiotes back from outer space. They came from a planet."

"Got it."

Logan stomped on the accelerator, no longer as relaxed as before.

"Woohoo! Boss, this time we're saving the world while we're at it."

"You could say that."

With Logan pushing the vehicle to its limit, they finally reached an experimental base in the middle of the night.

"This is it. Wade, Logan, I'm counting on you."

Kino looked at the two of them.

"No problem, Boss."

"Kid, don't stray too far from me."

Wade and Logan quickly got out of the vehicle. Like ghosts, they crept toward the entrance of the experimental base.

Kino followed nervously, gripping a pistol tightly in his hand, even though he knew it might not be of much use at a critical moment.

Wade moved nimbly through the shadows and quickly found a guard. He drew a short knife and stabbed it into the guard's heart from behind.

The guard tried to call for help, but blood clogged his windpipe, and he soon stopped breathing. Wade thoughtfully propped him against the wall, making him look as though he were dozing off.

Along the way, Wade led them forward, avoiding all kinds of cameras and taking out guards without attracting attention.

"Impressive."

Kino's eyes glittered repeatedly at the sight of such smooth, flowing assassination techniques.

They soon reached a laboratory. Wade looked at the combination lock in front of them and felt a headache coming on.

"Fingerprint and password. Two-factor verification. This is a little troublesome."

Logan shoved Wade aside, extended his claws, and slashed twice across the steel door. He kicked it, and a triangular hole appeared.

"Thanks, Logan."

Kino did not mind at all and simply crawled inside.

"Buddy, are your claws for sale? I'll pay ten thousand dollars for each. I want to make two steel knives."

"Unless you sew your mouth shut, I'll think about it."

"Impossible. Do you know how much happiness my mouth has brought Vanessa? If I lost it..."

"Shut up, Wade."

While the two argued behind him, Kino found the symbiotes.

The entire laboratory stored four containers, each holding a symbiote of a different color.

The others remained quietly inside without moving. Only the black one was full of vitality.

Kino came to the black container and fired, shattering it. He watched Venom crawl out.

"Come on, Venom! From now on, we're one."

Kino extended his hand and allowed Venom to invade his body.

The claim that Venom was the weakest of the symbiote species was nothing more than a rumor. Venom vs. Carnage later established that Venom was the 998th generation of the symbiote species.

In the comic Venom: Lethal Protector, several symbiotes that split off from Venom attacked together, yet they still failed to suppress Venom.

The movie's original dialogue called Venom a loser from the symbiote planet. But "loser" originally meant a failure and had nothing to do with combat strength. As one of Riot's advance-team members, Venom would never have been qualified to follow Riot on a mission if she had been too weak.

Kino felt around inside his body. He did not feel uncomfortable at all. It seemed the massive amount of chocolate he had eaten earlier had helped somewhat.

"Boss, are you all right?"

Wade asked worriedly. Rather than worrying about Kino, he was probably more worried about his five hundred thousand dollars.

"I'm fine. We should leave."

Kino attached the TNT to the container surrounding the silver symbiote, afraid that the blast might not kill her.

"Let's go."

The three of them retraced their route.

After getting into the car and driving some distance away, Kino pressed the button.

An explosion rang out. Kino looked toward the base, where a column of black smoke rose into the sky.

Venom was in hand, Riot was dead, and they had left safely. But why did something feel strange? It was as if he were dreaming.

Dreaming?

Kino drew his pistol and fired at Logan, who was driving in front of him.

"Boss, are you crazy? Why did you kill Logan?"

Wade looked at Kino in disbelief.

"So it really is fake."

Kino looked at Wolverine, who lay motionless over the steering wheel, then aimed the muzzle at Wade.

"Sorry, Wade idol."

A hole opened in Wade's forehead, and he slumped weakly against the seat.

Kino sat in the still-moving car, staring blankly at the gun in his hand. Then he smiled faintly.

"It's not like I've never died before. I'll bet Venom is really inside me."

I'm not dead?

Kino turned his head and met a pair of ghastly white eyes.

"With your mental strength, if you die in this world, you'll really die."

Venom's head extended from behind Kino and blocked the bullet.

"Because I felt that sensation when you entered my body. It wasn't an illusion." Kino lowered his pistol.

"You were that confident I'd save you? You should know that your mental death wouldn't affect your body. Instead, I would completely control it."

Venom opened her gaping maw filled with sharp teeth. Her long tongue licked Kino's face, as if she might bite his head off the next second.

"Because we're both alone in this world. You're an outcast among the symbiotes, and I'm a wanderer from another world."

"We're the same kind."

Among the symbiote species, they were supposed to be cold, efficient, and absolutely obedient beings. But Venom had her own thoughts and emotions. She could even develop complicated emotional entanglements and ideological conflicts with her host.