According to the research of Dr. Connors from Universe Earth-92131, the Venom symbiote is a sentient, living organism. It can fuse with a host's body, altering it through its own DNA structure, and continuing to evolve within the host.
And there was an even more shocking fact:After a symbiote merges with a host, the fusion is only the first step.Eventually… it will replace the host entirely.
In other words—Peter might ultimately be consumed by Venom.
Right—there was also the fact that all symbiotes weaken under continuous sonic waves, and can even be forcibly separated from their hosts.
Up until recently, Peter hadn't been fully sure whether the symbiote had attached itself to him.But judging from what happened earlier when dealing with the Department of Damage Control agents, it was obvious that the symbiote was still clinging to him somehow—he simply hadn't noticed it.
Because this symbiote had the ability to block his Spider-Sense.
But now…
"Tony, does your armor have sonic attack capability?" Peter asked. Since church bells and clanging metal pipes could restrain Venom, perhaps other sounds could work too.And with Stark's skill, simulating those exact sounds at a 1:1 ratio wouldn't be a problem.
Stark nodded. "Of course. What frequency do you want? Standard sonic, ultrasonic, infrasound—I've got them all. Sound waves can deal with that thing?"
"Yeah!" Peter nodded hard.
"All right. Let's move to another place," Stark said, extending a hand.
Peter placed his hand on Stark's back and joked, "I'd rather not get a face full of thruster exhaust."
Seeing his grin, Stark couldn't help but smile as well.
Peter's explanation had gotten him nervous too.
But don't forget—he was Tony Stark.No matter what this symbiote was, he believed he could help Peter find it and get rid of it.
The two quickly arrived at the Avengers' new headquarters in the northern suburbs of New York.
The new base was surrounded by dense forest, and the grounds seemed even larger than the old Stark Tower.A Quinjet was parked on the landing pad beside the main building—vertical takeoff meant it didn't need a long runway.
Stark led Peter into a sealed chamber.Three of the walls were made of metal; the outermost wall was constructed from some kind of special glass.
"This is the room we used when testing sonic weapons. If that symbiote really has self-awareness, this room should keep it from escaping," Stark explained.
"Oh, right—put these on first."Before Peter entered, Stark tossed him a set of clothes.
Peter caught them: a pair of sweatpants and a T-shirt. The front displayed two atoms—one saying, "I think I lost an electron."
The second atom replied, "Are you positive?"
Because losing an electron turns an atom into a positively charged ion.And "positive" meant both "positively charged" and "certain."
A classic physics nerd joke.
Peter smiled knowingly.
He and Stark were both physics lovers.
"Wear those. Your nano-suit seals too well—if the symbiote wants out, it might not be able to. And cleaning that suit is a nightmare. I know you don't want to get it dirty," Stark added.
Peter nodded, retracted his nanotech suit back into his wrist device, then removed the device entirely and set it aside.
After changing clothes, he stepped into the sonic chamber and stood nervously at its center.
Sound waves… were basically "hurting the enemy a thousand while injuring yourself eight hundred."
Because while they weakened the symbiote, they also caused Peter some harm.
But Stark had prepared a pair of high-grade sound-insulating earplugs—the same tech used in the Iron Man suits.
A suit flying at Mach 8—eight times the speed of sound—still produced an overwhelming hum even from inside the armor.That was what the earplugs were designed to handle.
But neither Stark nor Peter knew if they would work here.
After all, this wasn't quite the same situation.
Stark began operating the equipment from outside.
On the way here, Peter had already explained in detail what kinds of sounds could restrain the symbiote.
So, they would start by simulating church bells.
DONG!
A deep, resonant tone filled the room.
Even with the earplugs, Peter's heightened senses allowed him to clearly feel the rippling air brushing across his skin.
His whole body prickled with goosebumps.
Outside, Stark watched Peter closely.Seeing no serious negative reaction, he released a second bell tone.
DONG!DONG!DONG!
The simulated bell sounds rang again and again.
The sonic waves washed over Peter, bounced off the reinforced walls, washed over him again, bounced back, and struck him again—
"Ghhhhh—!" Peter clenched his teeth.
His senses were too sharp—not just sight and hearing, but also his Spider-Sense, his "sixth sense."
He perceived the slightest environmental changes far more acutely than normal people.
Usually, that was an advantage.Right now… it was torture.
He felt like his skull—and every inch of his body—was about to split open.
Seeing Peter trembling in pain, Stark's eyes were full of distress.
At the same time, he was deeply moved by how the boy endured it all without complaint.
So he forced himself to stay where he was, gazing through the glass at the determined young man inside.
A young man whose brilliance already surpassed Tony's own in his youth.
At only sixteen (well, seventeen now, since the year had turned), Peter had independently developed a new type of web fluid and a nanotech suit.More importantly, he had a kind heart.
Despite possessing great power and incredible intellect, he had never let them blind him or inflate his ego.He could still slow down and help those in need.
That was rare.And that was why Stark kept watching over him—and why he intended to train him as his successor.
To Stark, mindset meant more than anything.
Power could be supplemented with technology.He firmly believed that technology could compensate for everything.
But if a person's heart wasn't right—then nothing could fix that.
Nearly ten minutes passed.
Finally, Stark couldn't take it anymore.
He felt the attempt had failed and was about to tell FRIDAY to shut off the sound.
He couldn't let Peter suffer like this any longer.
(End of Chapter)