Spider-Man. The House Of Venom - Arc Three. Chapter Sixty-Three. Grounded

Arc Three. Chapter Sixty-Three. Grounded

Spider-Man. The House Of Venom by Malisson

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Olivia ‘Liv’ Octavious hummed happily to herself as she worked.

She had been given free rein to deal with the situation. There was no seizure or splitting migraine this time. No conflicting orders to burn out her brain tissue. She was confident that both Harry and Norman would be pleased. Her plan would remove their combined annoyance, even if it was for different reasons. Once she was done, it wouldn't matter very much afterwards what they thought. She wouldn't be here to hear their complaints.

Liv did, however, wish she could turn her phone off, but a warning from Harry and Norman had stopped her. She was to remain in contact at all times. God forbid one of them actually did something on their own. That thought was very close to disobedience and she corrected herself. She had learned to recognise the tingle before it became brain shatter pain. She had learned a lot in her fourteen years of slavery

She sponged down the stripped Max Dillon. He was very handsome, and if she had been given more free reign she might have indulged herself.

It took one order from Norman to kill that part of her. He forbade her from partaking in personal pleasure. It had made her involuntarily celibate years ago. Now all she could do was admire the man's muscles and physique.

“Please doc,” he whispered. The device was hooked to the back of his neck, draining the bioelectrical energy from him. It wasn’t painful but she imagined it wasn’t pleasant either,

“I’m sorry Max. Normans orders.” She leaned closer, “but it doesn’t matter, you were perfect for this.” Liv stepped back and adjusted the power flow once more.

Electro was spread eagle on a pylon, power coursing from him and into the generator. Four huge mechanical pylons stood like clawed fingers in testament to her brilliance. It was a large-scale containment field for her best plan yet. An unstable fusion reactor. A trap that Venom would be unable to escape from.

She had interned under the Parkers. In her younger days, it was genetics and biosciences. Once Norman had shut the project down she switched majors. Moving to mechanical and electrical engineering, and finally nuclear physics.

Her genius-level IQ just shifted gears. Norman's trickery made sure she was suitable collared. Once she had built the basic Goblin suit, she moved on to its power core. A small but powerful nuclear fission reactor, the Arcstar.

She had help with that one. The proud but sadly dead Howard Stark had created the Arc reactor. He abandoned it and offered it free to anyone who could shrink the design, and she had. She made enough changes that it was patented in her name. If she had ever freed herself of the damn Osborns she could have happily lived on the money it would earn her.

As expected, as well as her life, Norman had stolen all her work, barring this. It was experimental at the time and he wanted working prototypes. His misspoken words allowed her some semblance of freedom. Especially after the wonderful gift he had given her.

The harness, her first prototype gripped her like a vice. She had to watch her weight as its claps were fused shut. She had pressure sores beneath her breasts and along her spine. The thick jacket was long gone and with it the protection. Even steel corroded and she suffered for it.

She cleaned as best she could but she knew the unpleasant odour kept the more inquisitive away from her. She wasn't allowed to extend the arms at work, where they could take the heavier weight. Each day when she collapsed, her back and ribs ached constantly from the heavy lifting.

Ironically, she had to keep her weight down and could only eat small meals. The extra calories would be well spent building muscles to carry the damn harness around. No matter. Once she finished the reactor and set it to overload she wouldn't have to worry about that ever again. She would be free.

Electro's skin had paled from the energy drain she was putting him through. The formula she dosed him with at first had strengthened his body. It grew bioelectrical channels, he took the name Electro and they had had fun. He revelled in his newfound power and even the mighty Venom fell against his shocks. Pity he was just a battery to her, a power source but it didn't matter, nothing mattered now except her revenge.

Electro stirred as she lowered the output. The initial reaction would generate too much power for the structure to handle right now. If it sparked early then it would explode, taking a small chunk of the harbour with it.

"Please doc, please," Electro begged. The procedure was not as pain-free as Liv thought and he didn't look so great.

"Sorry Max, I need you a bit longer, I promise." She extended a hand to touch his face, to comfort him but yelped and pulled it back when he shocked her.

"Fuck you bitch, I'll kill you. I'll kill you," he yelled over and over. Sadly the serum often degraded the mental facilities of its users. It was one of the reasons Norman had shut the project down, especially with the experimental ones,

She signed, "such a shame Max. Such. A. Shame," and she walked away, leaving him to his rantings. “You know. Norman lied to us. You wonder why I wasn’t subject to the formula, the same way you eager little beavers were.”

Max hung, glaring at her, as the power was drained from him.

“It killed every subject we tested it on. Not one single animal survived. Norman only got approval for human testing as he used death row inmates. They were promised freedom if they volunteered.”

Max was gritting his teeth, but every time he drew on his power it felt like ants burning in his veins.

“None lived. Even when we found injecting an animal with the formula and using its blood. They all still died. You would last a year, maybe. It was either a slow painful death or a very violent one.”

Liv shuddered as she watched the men's veins rupture under their skin as they screamed. It was then she tried to leave Oscorp. It was then Norman used her for one last experiment.

“But, it doesn matter, none of this matters. It will be over soon enough, and then you will be free.”

She neglected to mention she had super-dosed him. Behind one of the empty cots lay three containers of formula. Each one was empty as she injected him over and over to supercharge his powers. She needed them to power her reactor. He would be dead within the hour, but if her plan worked. So would she.

Max still glared at her, and she could feel the rage and frustration as she moved over to check her instruments.

The core of her Arcstar reactor was a small fusion pulse generator. It was now controlled by a chip similar in design to her own harness, and she linked up to it. She could feel the thrumming of the generator. Even on standby and its tingle crept through the harness and into her centre. She giggled as she bit her lip, once it started then she would really feel that thrust.

Opening the case they had taken from the vault she carefully slotted the new chip into the side of a panel. Closing it and clasping it shut tightly, the led lights on the control board all began to flicker on. One by one, red at first and then slowly as the board filled, they changed over to green.

The main generator, powered by Electro, was fully operational. Now all she had to do was drop the heavy utonium into the reactor chamber and the reactor would spark into life.

Growing slowly at first it needed to be fed with light elements and the heavier ones drained off. Like a star, the heat and size were dependent on the fusion of hydrogen. Adding in helium or even carbon would cause the star to burn too quickly and die. Even the hydrogen had to be controlled or she would risk an explosion.

She continued to hum as the four extra arms worked. They effortlessly drew away any contaminants. Allowing the reaction to proceed smoothly. Now all she had to do was wait for Venom to arrive and with a simple flick of a switch, she would be rid of him.

It would have been nice to have lived a proper life. If Norman hadn't taken away her freedom, then maybe she would have won that Nobel Prize she was always after. But life was full of maybes. Maybe Peter's father would have said yes, and not listened to his wife. Maybe Peter could have saved her. The cold hard reality of life was that maybe was not good enough. Cruel people like Norman took a maybe and smashed it. They turned maybe into an absolute. Do this or else. It was now her turn. Save me or else.

The reactor would take two hours to get to maximum burn before the star would ignite properly. It would then require constant attention for a further hour to stabilise.

After that, the reactor should, in theory, run without any outside interference. She just needed three hours, three hours and it would all be over.

Her phone beeped. It was Norman,

where are you?

She was grateful it was a simple question, not asking what she was doing. If Norman knew her plan he would stop it, calling it bad press. Norman was sick enough that he would probably enjoy the fireworks. Not to mention the attention. It would just not be the right kind.

With a small smile, she sent him a message back.

At the hideout by the docks. If Sandman is healed he needs to meet me here. He knows where it is.

She would need him to defend the reactor while she worked. She had promised the cure for his daughter, the same serum that made him a monster could cure her illness. She couldn't remember what it was but the generic serum cured most illnesses. It was the carrot she needed to control him. Once it was in front of him, she knew he would take it. He would never know that it might kill her.

Liv lifted her goggles. The reactor had finally achieved fusion. She smiled and watched as her tendrils worked without her supervision. Now all she had to do was wait. Just another hour and she would be free of Venom and her pain.

⁂

It hadn't taken long for Sandman to find the warehouse. He huffed when he saw the massive contraption but frowned and shouted at her, “What the hell doc?” As he rushed to Max’s side, “What the hell?”

There was a bucket with water by his side, unknown to Sandman it was salt water, designed to conduct more power. He didn't know and grabbed a cloth Sandman wiped down Electro's face.

His breathing was weakening by the minute and Ock seemed uncaring of his pain. "What did you do to him?" he asked, even if he could feel the heat of the reactor he could still take out one little bug.

He'd been in pain for hours as they sprayed him with solvent at Oscorp. The fight with Venom had made him realise that Ock worked her own angle and if he died, she didn't care. He wanted to warn Osborn about her and her plan. He didn't know who Venom was but he promised he'd find out, and Mr Osborn promised to cure his daughter, once and for all.

Liv waved a spare tendril. "He was the spark for my fire, that's all, just a little drained, but he'll be fine." She pointed to a few emitters hanging from the ceiling. Each one looked like rejects from a science fiction film, Flint had never been a fan of that kind of movie. "Stop nagging. The vibration from the reactor will draw Venom here. The reactor is powering a good old-fashioned laser, you know, pew pew."

"So, you're here to make sure he keeps away from the reactor, I'm here to make sure he gets dead. Calm down, Sandman. You'll get your fight and your cure. Even if Osborn isn't willing I can get it for you, just stick to the plan." Liv was losing patience with him, he was itching for a fight and it seemed like she was as good a target as any.

“It still ain't right doc,” Sandman said but she ignored him.

She didn't care. Did anyone come to help her? No. Did Sandman, Electro, or Rhino care when blood poured from her? No, they smirked and laughed as conflicting orders gave her an aneurysm.

This reactor was the pinnacle of her brilliance, wasted as she worked for Norman. Everyone would see just how amazing she was. Everyone would remember this day and finally, she would be free.