Venom raised his hand and gripped Chen Mo's forearm.
Black crept beneath the wrist guard, covering the emitter, trying to seal that narrow gap. Chen Mo pried it away with his other hand. His fingertips touched the curling edges, and he could feel Venom shying away.
"Let go."
This time, it was Chen Mo who spoke.
Venom's eyes were very close, their white edges trembling with his breathing. Several tears the sound waves had ripped into his face had yet to finish healing.
The symbiote knew where the switch was and how much it would hurt up close, but the hand gripping Chen Mo kept pulling him outward.
"Come with me."
Venom repeated those words. Black seeped between Chen Mo's fingers, trying to push his glove aside. In the past, Chen Mo would have relaxed his hand at this point and let Venom crawl inside.
That familiar skin was right underneath, within reach.
Chen Mo clenched his fist, his thumb pressing against the edge of the switch.
"I have to stay here. And stop throwing yourself at Bat. Do you hear me?"
Venom turned his head.
Batman emerged from behind the boat rack to the side. The scratches on his shoulder armor reflected the cabin lights as he unfolded the containment device in his hands toward the outside of the platform.
Venom saw its enclosed inner walls. The officer's shoulders and back tensed, and his body strained against the mounting seat pinning him down.
Chen Mo's fist was seized. Black stretched along his arm, trying to move him aside.
The boat rack's load-bearing strut bent. The strands Peter had stuck to it pulled taut one by one. The officer raised one shoulder, pushing Superman partway off him.
Wonder Woman stepped onto the mounting seat. Her lasso looped behind the officer's