Venom

EIGHTEEN: First Day

The next day, Eddie went to babysit Amelia and Alexander, along with Maisie. Maisie and Venom were, of course, ecstatic to see Alexander and Amelia again. Maisie put her few battered and broken toys in her frayed backpack before heading out the door with Eddie and Venom.

"I can't believe you actually agreed to be a babysitter," Maisie admitted as they walked. The reason Eddie had opted not to take his motorcycle was simply that he was scared that Maisie would unknowingly lose her balance or misstep and fall off onto the street. Plus, the house wasn't too far away.

"Well, Dr. Skirth brought me to Venom and helped me get my life back, so, I thought I could do her this one favor," Eddie responded.

Falsehood! You only agreed because I threatened to eat your liver!

"Can it, Cheshire Cat," Eddie retorted. Maisie giggled.

"You two are funny. I'm glad Ms. Weying let me stay with you," she replied with a grin.

"Me too," Eddie replied.

Me three. And if it wasn't for me, she'd probably still be sitting behind that counter with the old lady eating cookies. Actually, I feel like this would be a downgrade....

"Shut up, Venom. Nobody asked you," Eddie remarked.

I asked myself. Also, I like annoying you.

"Yeah, I noticed," Eddie grumbled. "We're here." Eddie and Maisie stopped in front of Dora's house. Then, Maisie went up the front steps and rang the doorbell. The door was almost immediately opened, and Dora smiled before rushing out.

"Bye, Amelia! Bye, Alexander!" Dora called before getting into her car and driving away.

"Bye mommy!" Both of the children replied with a wave. Then, Maisie, Amelia, and Alexander rushed into the house, followed by Eddie.

"Did you bring the toys?!" Amelia asked. Maisie nodded and patted her backpack.

"Yep! I got 'em right here!" She answered before opening her backpack and pulling out her broken and heavily used toys. Both Amelia and Alexander grinned.

"Perfect!" Alexander exclaimed, happily picking one of the toys up to examine it. Amelia joined him and beamed.

"They're in perfect condition! Hey, Mr. Eddie! Do you wanna play with us?" Amelia asked hopefully.

Eddie! Say yes, Eddie!

"Sure," Eddie responded with a shrug. "What're we playing?"

"Surgeon. You have to merge random toys together and see what you make," Alexander explained.

"It was her idea, 'cause we couldn't really figure out how to play any board games by ourselves," Amelia added, pointing to Maisie with a smile.

"Yeah! I brought the glue tubes!" Alexander confirmed.

"Perfect! Now we can fix the toys!" Amelia exclaimed happily. So, Eddie and the kids got to work, glueing toys together and making the strangest things. Maisie recalled what Eddie said that Venom looked like, and painted a Barbie doll all black with large white eyes.

"Look, Mr. Brock! I made a dolly look like Mr. Venom!" Maisie exclaimed with a grin.

It's beautiful!

"Are you crying?" Eddie asked.

Grow a brain, Eddie. Symbiotes don't cry.

"It's very good, Maisie," Eddie replied. Maisie grinned.

"Now I can make him bite all the other dolly's heads off and pile them in the corner!" She added.

That's my girl

"Now look what you've done! She's talking about biting people's heads off!" Eddie pointed out.

"Why is he talking to himself?" Alexander asked with a raised eyebrow.

"He has a parasite," Maisie replied.

You traitor!

"And that's my girl," Eddie responded with a grin.

"Who's Mr. Venom?" Amelia asked. Maisie grinned.

"He's Mr. Brock's partner. He helps take care of me," Maisie answered.

"Is Mr. Venom nice?" Alexander asked. Maisie nodded.

"Yep! He just likes eating bad people!" Maisie confirmed nonchalantly.

"That doesn't sound very nice..." Alexander pointed out, looking slightly annoyed.

"Can we go to the park?!" Amelia asked.

"Yes!" Venom said with a nod. So, Eddie, Venom, Maisie, Amelia, and Alexander all went to the park together. They played tag and hide and seek. Then, one of the buildings nearby exploded and erupted in flames. That building was the Daily Bugle. Eddie transformed into Venom and looked at Maisie.

"You ready for a fight?" Venom asked. Maisie smiled and nodded before pulling a switchblade from her bag.

You taught her to smuggle weapons?!

"No. I only supervised and commented," Venom remarked.

That's teaching, you idiot!

"What're we gonna do?" Amelia and Alexander asked.

"Run back to the house. Maisie, you take them. Don't trust anyone. We'll find you when we're done," Venom explained. The three kids nodded. Maisie took Amelia's hand, and Amelia took Alexander's hand as the trio booked it back to the house.

"Mommy was supposed to go there today. What if something happened to her?" Amelia asked as they were running.

"Don't think about that now. I'm sure Mr. Venom and Mr. Brock will protect her," Maisie assured Amelia as they finally reached the house. "You two get in first."

"Okay," Alexander agreed. Him and Amelia stepped through the front door.

"Lock all of the doors and windows," Maisie commanded. Amelia and Alexander complied.

"Are you gonna go help Mr. Venom?" Amelia asked, catching Maisie's hand as she went for the door. Maisie nodded and grinned.

"Obviously," she responded. Amelia nodded.

"Be careful," she warned. And with that, Maisie left and Amelia locked the door behind her.

Meanwhile, Venom was fighting something that looked like a giant lizard. Every time he would cut off one of its limbs, it would just regenerate. Venom ate Lizard's arm off and kicked him into a wall. Lizard stood after a moment and threw a giant piece of the wall at Venom, who caught it. Venom ran over and hit Lizard over the head with the same piece of the wall. Lizard let out a shriek and tackled Venom. Then, a red pocket knife impaled Lizard's arm. That distracted Lizard for a few seconds, which Venom used to rip Lizard's tail off over his shoulder. Maisie then stabbed Lizard where his tail was regenerating. The tail still regenerated, but it was dislocated and broken because it grew around the knife. Lizard let out an ear piercing shriek and fled.