Marvel: I'm a Symbiote

Symbiote 0218: Soul

Alex felt as if he was floating in an infinite void of space. No matter how much he tried to extend himself, no matter how much he tried to move forward, it was all useless. The void stretched out for all eternity as he used his instincts to navigate himself through the world. His current situation reminded him of the time when he’d just awoken as a symbiote but even worse. At the very least, symbiotes had an innate sense of touch, but he felt that even that was completely gone at the moment.

“Hm …” Alex heard a neutral voice that he couldn’t identify as male or female, “What a peculiar challenger,” The voice spoke, this time seeming much closer to Alex, “Yet the one with the most positive prospects yet.” Alex wanted to respond, but it was of no use. He felt like nothing more than a powerless blob in a mass of infinite nothingness, “I hope you can put me back together. In return, I will make you infallible.”

Alex’s attempts to respond were completely useless. As he kept trying to respond or do anything, he felt a severe sense of vertigo before everything came back.

[Did you get it?] Jane asked as she parried a golden green glowing beam of light. It pushed her back, causing Alex’s tentacle to get detached from the casing of the Soul Stone. Just as Jane asked Alex the question, a familiar burst of energy started coursing through her. Having already felt it two times before, she didn’t need Alex’s confirmation to understand that they had gotten the Soul Stone. Slowly, the green arcs of energy that were on Jane’s body turned from the original green to orange before being contained within her.

On the other hand, Alex was feeling a little dazed. He couldn’t quite recall the exact words that he’d heard the Soul Stone’s spirit say to him. Like a fleeting dream, the words escaped his mind as he came back to reality. Bringing his focus back on the battle, Alex saw the man going completely berserk as the Stone in his head started to release an immense glow. The huge amount of green and gold energy started concentrating right at the place where the man was housing the Soul Stone.

Sadly for the man, with Alex having grabbed the main stone that had been suppressing him and Jane, he was now free to become an active participant in the battle. As the man charged his energy, multiple lightning bolts broke through the palace walls and ceiling, being attracted toward Jane. They struck her within moments and she charged at the man with Mjolnir raised and arching with blue.

With the impending attack upon him, the man showed an unwilling expression as he released the beam prematurely, hoping to push back Jane sufficiently. Sadly for him, the lightning bolts were constantly being attracted toward Jane, striking her and powering her up as Mjolnir cut through the beam of green and gold light before striking the man directly in the head. He still didn’t fall down, putting up a last-ditch effort while resisting Jane’s attacks.

Alex didn’t waste a single moment before extending forward from Jane’s arm and enveloping his tendril in the energy of the Soul Stone. He quickly grabbed that stone as well and it disappeared into him.

Following the loss of the stone, the man fell to the ground like a puppet that had been cut off from its strings. His body looked emaciated and shriveled as he fell to the floor and fainted yet he was still breathing lightly.

It was now that Jane got a good look around the chamber that had already left her horrified when she’d barely gotten a look at it. An uncomfortable expression appeared on her face as she dropped her hammer, right on top of the emancipated man. She didn’t want him to run away. As for her sword, it disappeared from her hand and appeared in its scabbard at her waist.

“This is madness …” She spoke. Most of the room was filled with thousands of pods lined up like batteries. Each and every single one of those pods was housing a Xandarian with an agony-filled expression on their face. Jane was quickly making her way to the control terminal to see if she could free them, not knowing what else she could be doing.

Moments later, she noticed one of the pods stirring. Whipping her face in its direction, she saw a shriveled-up Xandarian that literally turned to dust. The pod didn’t even need to be opened before an unconscious Xandarian came up from below. They awoke with panic visible in their eyes before a soundless scream escaped their lips. Jane saw how that agony filled persisted on their lips as their vitality started getting sucked.

[Emotions …] Alex spoke in Jane’s head while taking control of the entire system. He didn’t want her to break down in guilt. The faces of all the Xandarians normalized as the pods powered down. Without the Soul Stone there to be powered, it was useless to keep the people in those states.

Jane didn’t seem to hear Alex’s random musing and held on to a railing at the side before leaning against it, [Why would they do such a thing?]

[With how much work their Soul Stone was doing, I was sure that they had some sort of power source for it. Turns out extreme stimulation of the soul alongside the vitalities of the respective soul is a very efficient way to power the stone.] Alex said with a clinical tone, not expressing any feelings toward the matter.

She didn’t respond to his words as a numb feeling overtook her. She saw as the expressions of the thousands of Xandarians all stabilized and they merely seemed like they were deeply asleep at this point. As the seconds passed, a feeling of anger overtook her, “I’ll destroy the Sovereign!” She expressed herself while grabbing her sword and moving toward her hammer.

Her assailant had already woken up and was groaning in pain while trying to escape from under the hammer. Sadly for him, Mjolnir was a divine weapon that he had no hope to contend against, at least not without the Soul Stone. Jane approached him with a dark expression in her eyes. Wordlessly, she pulled out Hofund from the scabbard, limply holding it in her hand as the tip of the blade scraped against the floor.

The sounds startled the man, making him turn his head to look at her while struggling to get out from under the hammer. Jane continued approaching him with heavy, slow steps as the man’s struggles grew stronger. Each of Jane’s steps was accompanied by a thud that made the man feel like a bell was tolling, with each step, his death approached.

“I’ll start with you,” Jane said with disgust marring her tone as she raised her sword. The man didn’t plead. He merely continued struggling, hoping to get out of his predicament.

Just as Jane was about to swing her sword to behead the man, “Wait!” A tired, undoubtedly feminine voice spoke, “Please! I’m begging you!” She spoke hurriedly between huffs from the balcony on top.

“You’re next,” Jane said apathetically, “What you’re doing here deserves nothing but death.”

“Please!” Jane’s swing faltered at the woman’s plea, “It wasn’t me! I’m merely working for my creator. We can’t defy him.” She spoke shortly while descending down the stairs at the side as quickly as she could. Jane kept an apathetic yet furious expression on her face as she looked at the gold-skinned woman, Ayesha descending the stairs hurriedly. A pained exclaim followed by the woman slipping and desperately holding on to the railing on the side, “Please … Just listen to me, I’m begging …” Her pitiful pleas mixed with her slipping made Jane’s expression soften ever so slightly.

Ayesha limped down the stairs as her gaze met the trapped man’s desperate one, “Mother!” He said with a pained tone as his struggles renewed.

The gold-skinned woman looked at the man who was apparently her son in a pitiful state and knelt in front of Jane, “Please,” She spoke, “Let my son live. If you want someone to blame, kill me. Please let him go.”

[Stand down, Jane. I think we can get some very necessary information from this woman.] Alex said, [Listen to me, okay.]

Alex had to coax her a little, but Jane came to and agreed. She sheathed Hofund and looked at the woman, “I have some questions for you.”

“I-I will answer what I am able to,” She continued kneeling while throwing fleeting glances at her enraged son, “W-would it be possible for you to free my Adam?” She asked, “J-just to send him to the medical bay.”

“He’ll be fine,” A male voice startled Ayesha as she quickly looked up at Jane, only to see black tendrils extending out of her armor and coalescing into a humanoid form.