Thanks to everyone for reading! Please comment on any characters and universes you’d like to see in the future below the chapters. I can’t guarantee they’ll make it in, but I want to have some fun and fit in the audience's favourites if I can! Thanks again, and a huge thank you to my Patrons! I can’t make this content without support, and I’m super grateful for our first two supporters! This fanfiction is also available on my Patreon, I’ll always keep it free, so please visit! Any support there makes this work possible, and if enough patrons want this novel to be a priority, it will be!

 

https://www.patreon.com/maizeblu

 

Now, on to the chapter!

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“This way, we'll go to the fields first and see if you can form a bond,” Their guide encouraged them forward, down a narrow path into the jungle. “If you can’t even do that, I won’t bother taking you to speak with Sekot.”

 

“Alright,” Dan shrugged as he and May followed the woman. “By the way, what’s your name?”

 

“I’m Akona Hal, but you can call me Ako,” Akona smiled over her shoulder. “My husband, Leor, is the Magistrate here. We’re a bit surprised to have visitors, we haven’t even announced our ship building business to the rest of the galaxy.”

 

“Nice to meet you, Ako,” May skipped to the woman's side. “I’m May, and this is Dan!”

 

“Arff arrff!”

 

“And this is Bear,” Dan laughed. “The one on my head is called Stormy.”

 

“They’re quite cute,” Ako laughed as Bear tripped over his feet, straight into a muddy puddle. “I’ve never seen animals like them, most of the creatures Sekot creates are scaled.” She pointed to a flowered tree, surrounded by lizard-like bats.

 

“Can the planet make any animals it wants?” Stars formed in May’s eyes.

 

“I think so, up to a point,” Ako tilted her head. “Why?”

 

“May has a bit of collection going,” Dan laughed. “She’s trying to get one of every animal, so a planet that creates new ones is a dream come true.”

 

The path opened up ahead, a wide area filled with disorganised domes. Made entirely from living plant matter, they rose taller than the trees, perched on thick stalks over a metre wide. Their green-brown surface held dozens of thorny pods, covered in slick, gooey sap.

 

“Place your hands on the trunk, one at a time,” Ako pointed under the nearest dome’s shade. “Any seedlings that find you worthy will detach and attempt to bond.”

 

“That’s… gross,” Dan shook his head. He ducked under the strange plant, hand extended for its wet looking bark.

 

The tips of his fingers brushed spongy flesh, the texture of soft, grainy cheese. A rumble echoed and the plant recoiled. Its dome shook, joined by its brethren, until a wave rocked the unusual forest. A buzz entered his mind, countless voices that spoke in tongues.

 

“Soooo noisy…” A tired voice yawned from within him. “STAY OUT OF OUR MIND!”

 

The plant collective froze, silent as a black ooze flowed to surround Dan’s body. Stormy leapt from his head, hackles raised as he spat his annoyance. The liquid settled on his skin, a seamless layer that carried the touch of the sun on its heals. Venom’s head extended from his shoulder, teeth bared in a snarl as he snapped at the air.

 

“WE HAVE NO NEED FOR MORE WITHIN US, WE ARE VENOM!”

 

“You’re finally awake,” Glee spread through Dan as he stretched his limbs. Venom had increased his size and build, from a preschooler to a short, bulky man. “This feels so much better!”

 

Being short again had lost its novelty. His height was the only thing he missed about his old body. Dan squeezed from beneath the plant-dome and withdrew the symbiote from around his face.

 

“YOU ALMOST KILLED US,” Venom snaked around beside his face. “NOW YOU SEEK TO REPLACE US!”

 

“Remember rule number four…” Dan winced. “Quiet, unless you’re in danger.”

 

“We are quiet…” Venom mumbled. “Let us bond with these lesser symbiotes, we can take what is theirs for us!”

 

“What is that?” Ako moved forward, not startled at all by Venom’s appearance. “I’ve never seen biotechnology like this before, it’s got its own mind!”

 

“Stay back woman,” Venom gnashed his teeth, as he dodged the woman’s hands.. “We are not an animal to be petted!”

 

“His name is Venom,” Dan laughed as his symbiote ducked his head behind his back. “I don’t think I’ll be able to bond with any more symbiotes, but May can give it a try.”

 

“You’re so tall now,” May scrunched her nose and looked up at his reformed body. “Will you always look like that?”

 

“No,” Dan closed his eyes and withdrew all but Venom’s head, which glared at Ako. The ground returned to its too close distance, his normal form returned. “I can change at will, plus I think…”

 

His ship's jumpsuit darkened, absorbed by a thin layer of symbiote. The material warped and shifted. First it resembled a superman suit, then the robe of a Jedi. He finally settled on a simple pair of comfortable pants, with a black shirt that had a small, silver superman symbol over his heart.

 

“That’s so cool…” May frowned. “I want one!”

 

“Once I’ve figured out more about him, I’ll get Venom to pop out a few children,” Dan smiled and waved to the alien trees. “Now let’s see if you can bond with these things.”

 

“Alright, but you’ve promised,” May stuck out her tongue. She turned to Ako. “So… I just touch it?”

 

“Hmmmm? Oh! Yes,” Ako waved absentmindedly, her eyes locked on Venom. “This suit of yours can reproduce?

 

“We can talk more about that after I speak with Sekot,” Dan shrugged as May reached out for the plant. If the living world was open to his plans, this woman may very well have a symbiote of her own one day.

 

“This feels so gross…” May winced as her palm pressed into the fungal cheese. “How long do I…”

 

Another eruption shook the forest, the same as when Dan made his attempt. The forest swayed and groaned, an unusual song that made Venom wince on his shoulder. A deluge of seed pods fell to the ground, dozens from every tree. They rolled toward May in organic tide.

 

“What do I do now!” May scampered back to hide behind Ako. “How do these things ‘bond’ with you?”

 

“This is amazing,” Ako radiated scientific joy, mixed with suspicion. “I’ve never seen so many drop at once… who are you people?”

 

The pods trundled around her feet, on course for May. The closest of them extended a small, hollow tendril, filled with a powerful suction. May danced back, while Dan reformed his suit to block the way.

 

“They just need to make contact with your skin for a few minutes,” Ako patted Dan, an attempt to encourage him aside. “From the numbers I’m seeing, we’ll be done in less than ten hours!”

 

“WHY DIDN’T YOU SAY THAT BEFORE!”

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Thanks again, and a huge thank you to my Patrons! I can’t make this content without support, and I’m super grateful for our first three supporters! This fanfiction is also available on my Patreon, I’ll always keep it free, so please visit! Any support there makes this work possible, and if enough patrons want this novel to be a priority, it will be! Updates for this series will be at five a week, a chapter part monday-friday, with bonus chapters whenever I can get them written and edited. 

 

https://www.patreon.com/maizeblu