Venom Shot

Chapter Eighteen

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After Venom was gone, Val sat there and wept. He didn't know how much time had passed, but he eventually heard the others.

Volume was the first to see the awful sight. "No... it can't be. Val this isn't real."

Val looked at him with his tear stained face and red eyes. He kept sobbing but nodded. Volume kneeled beside him and looked at his friend. She was gone and if they were there, she could've been saved. The others showed up and the twins gasped at the sight, the rest of the group joined Volume in a hug as they all cried. Vinyl tried to comfort Val but he was falling apart. Everyone was devastated. Val eventually stopped weeping and went to get up before spotting the ring on her finger.

"Val don't..." Volume said.

Val said nothing for a second but then went to grab Venom's ring and Ray Gun. He threw his gun to the ground as it fell apart. The group watched as he destroyed it. That gun was his favorite because of all the memories it held. He got it around the same time he met Venom. Val wanted all memory of Venom gone because he was hurt, at least gone for now. He then held Venom's red and black gun. He didn't like the colors since those were her colors, so he looked around the abandoned building for paint until he found a gold tinted paint can. He then painted the gun and let it dry as he cried. The group watched as Val went utterly insane. He started punching glass, breaking everything he could, and of course constantly cried as he did so. Once the gun dried he left and the group followed. He didn't tell them to do anything when they got back to the base. He just went up to the roof. They all went to sleep but could hear Val weeping through the roof crying. That's when each and every single one of them realized how truly special their love was. Val lost himself that night, and each of the V's lost something too. None of them ever got to say goodbye. That day changed Val forever. He went back to his old ways rather quickly and became the asshole everyone knew him to be before Venom. He was ruthless with his kills now, even going as far as killing innocent people by mistake due to his growing paranoia. He turned cold and extremely heartless. His old personality the V's once knew, had left him. They watched as he became someone who he wasn't, then they watched as he forced them into missions as distraction and eventually Volume got ghosted.

Years passed and nothing changed. Val was still an asshole and Venom was still gone. The Fab Four showed up the day after to honor their friend but Val had kicked them out, therefore they never got along ever again. Everyone stopped going to see them and they really never spoke to each other again. Just became acquaintances as time went by. The girl who ran with The Fab Four had grown and had appeared in their lives again looking for refuge. They knew her story, but they also hurt as she told the news of the Fab Four. Val didn't really care but the rest of them did, he looked at the girl and she reminded him of Venom since this girl once loved her too. Val got even more angry and the group watched as Val treated her like she wasn't anything special. They were unsure themselves so they let Val carry on, but deep down, they all felt bad he was treating her that way. They then watched him make the powerful choice that would cause people to erupt in a fit. He was going to lead a rebellion right into Battery City after they blew up the nest (which is where they now stayed since Val left the other base because of Venom and the memories.) Val then did something no one would ever forget, we won't speak of it, but it made everyone hate him. He was just broken, paranoid, and lost without the girl he once dearly loved. He wasn't the same, people knew it too. We all know the story from here. The girl saved everyone and Val apologized for everything and being an ass. He then didn't know where to go or who to go too. He had no one anymore since his group found their real friends and family. Until someone came up to him.

"S'cuse me? Are you Valentine?" A man said.

"Um, yes. Sorry, I'm just not used to hearing my real name..." Val replied.

"Well hello Valentine, I'm... your wife's father. I know she's no longer with us, but I just want to thank you for absolutely everything. You treated her so well and reassured her when she needed it. I know she loved you very much and I'm happy you had the privilege of loving such a wonderful soul." Venom's father said.

Val's jaw dropped slightly, this was the first time he had truly felt something since the day he lost her.

"H-How did you know who I am? Also, if you were a Drac how would you recognize your daughter?" Val asked.

Venom's father sighed, "It wasn't until after, I realized. I never really knew you or her when I was a Drac. I just felt something in my trapped soul that somehow told me to stay away from you both. So I always did. You two must've had something really special if your energy was able to get through to my trapped soul. Or maybe my subconscious just knew that it was my daughter. I also knew you before my daughter found you. BL/ind knew you too well. You had a reputation for yourself out there. Which I see you went back to after the death of my daughter."

Val cast his head down, he was embarrassed Venom's father had seen him the way he turned out to be.

"I'm sorry, I know what I've done isn't right. Yet, I just had so much anger and was paranoid about losing anyone else so I just became someone who made awful mistakes and didn't think anything through properly." Val explained.

"Hey, don't worry too much about it. If I was there to witness my daughters death I'm sure I would've had a similar reaction. You've been out there since a very young age and had no one to help you manage and control your emotions. So I understand why you did the things you did. Yet you learned and realized your mistakes. That's all that should matter. No one should hate you for your wrongdoings. If they do then maybe they can't see that you were trying to do your very best to protect those you cared about, and they definitely don't understand the feelings you feel after losing the absolute love of your life. You feel lost without them, and I only know that because it's what my ex wife told me as she screamed at me to get out of my house way back in the day." Venom's father explained, giggling slightly at the end.

Val gave a slight smile, "Well I see where V-Venom got her wisdom from."

Val stuttered trying to say her name. The name was almost foreign to him. Every time he thought about her he wanted to cry, he still loved her after all these years and hadn't let himself grieve in a positive way. All the anger had just caused him to bury his pain even further, like he once did in his childhood.

"Ah, thank you. I tried to teach her well and it seems I did just that. Well, I better be on my way. I have to find my siblings, I hope you know how much she loved you." Venom's father said as he began to walk away.

Val then asked if he could hug him and thank him. Venom's father agreed. The two hugged and Venom's father whispered something in Val's ear. It confirmed it really was her father since Venom's real name was used. Val never forgot it years later. "Thank you, your daughter was my best friend, my hope, and my life. Thank you for the advice."

That was the last the two ever saw of each other. Val wasn't ever seen again by anyone and people wanted him dead for what he did. So a lot of people theorized he either was killed or just let himself take all the blame so he COULD be killed. None of that was true of course, but no one knew what happened to him. Regardless, life was going to be ok now, no more Batt City or fighting for survival. It was all over and it was thanks to the girl, but also thanks to The Fab Four. If they wouldn't have saved her, she couldn't have saved them. It was a story that would live on for ages and would reach all across the world. Maybe even beyond and into another dimension... Of course over time the parts about Val being NICE were forgotten. They became irrelevant and Val's story had changed a tiny bit, actually a lot. No one knew why he became so angry and paranoid, and one ever would. It was all forgotten or changed but people know. He just coped with loss in a way that was unhealthy, but people couldn't ever see it that way ever again. He was just, "the guy who was an asshole and wanted to take Party Poison's place..."