Chapter 272: The Plan to Capture Venom
"Venom isn't dead!" Peter stared at Silas, waiting for a reaction, but Silas's face remained as calm as a still pond.
"Come on, Silas, give me something! A gasp? A shock?" Peter groaned, feeling frustrated. Interacting with Silas like this was no fun at all.
"Whoa! Venom is actually alive?!" Silas's expression suddenly became wildly exaggerated. His jaw dropped, and he stared at Peter with an air of mock disbelief.
"...Okay, Silas, now you're just being annoying," Peter said, deadpan.
Silas dropped the act and chuckled. "Well, you said the calm look was boring."
"But your acting is too over-the-top. It's not realistic at all." Peter rolled his eyes. The acting was truly terrible.
Silas gave a lighthearted laugh and brought the conversation back on track. "You said he's alive? How do you know?"
"I went to San Francisco last night and saw this news report." Peter pulled a crumpled newspaper from his pocket and handed it over.
Silas unfolded it. The headline read: SAN FRANCISCO'S MOST TERRIFYING CANNIBAL! Below the text was a grainy but unmistakable photo of Venom.
"I didn't expect him to still be around," Peter said. For some reason, he felt a flicker of relief, but seeing the reports of Venom eating people filled him with a renewed sense of anger.
"So, what do you plan to do?" Silas handed the paper back.
"I'm going to bring him back!" Peter crumpled the paper, his grip tightening to show his resolve.
"And then what?" Silas asked pointedly.
"Well..." Peter paused, thinking it over. He didn't know how to finish that sentence. He couldn't bring himself to say he'd kill Venom; in his heart, he still viewed the symbiote as a person. More than that, for a time, he had considered Venom his friend.
"We'll lock him up!" Peter told Silas. "We'll keep him in the Shadow Kingdom and feed him chocolate on a regular schedule. That way, he won't have to starve, and he won't hurt anyone."
"Good idea. You can go ahead and try to catch him," Silas said.
"Of course I can. He's vulnerable to noise and fire." Peter was already planning a trip to the Shadow Kingdom to build a sonic device. Using sound to force the symbiote out of a host was the most efficient way to capture it without permanent harm—and it would prevent the symbiote from trying to jump back onto Peter.
"Great plan. I support you, Peter. But... I won't be able to go with you," Silas said, his tone laced with a fake sense of regret.
"Why not?" Peter asked, surprised. Weren't they a team?
"Sigh... it's a long story. I have a date with Misty for the next two days." Silas broke into a genuine grin.
"..." Peter's face instantly darkened. "Fine... go... have fun..."
"See you later then, Peter." Silas waved and cheerfully headed downstairs for breakfast.
"Go for it, Peter. You can do this on your own," Peter muttered to himself, trying to boost his own morale before following his brother down.
Downstairs
"Peter, what took you so long?" Aunt May asked as he entered the kitchen.
"Nothing, I just had some good news," Peter said with a strained smile. Internally, he was suffering. His brother was abandoning him for a date, making Peter suddenly feel the urge to find a girlfriend of his own.
"Good news?" Aunt May perked up. "What happened?"
"School is starting soon, so I'm just excited," Peter lied quickly.
"Relax, young man. It's just college. Simple and easy," Ben Parker said comfortably. He didn't start work until 9:00 AM now, so he had plenty of time. It wasn't like his old job where he had to report at 8:00 AM sharp to do high-level work for low-level pay.
"I'm finished. You guys don't need to wait for me for lunch or dinner," Silas said, standing up to leave.
"Hold on a second!" Ben called out.
"What is it, Uncle Ben?" Silas wondered why he was being stopped.
"Where are you going, Silas?" Aunt May asked, her voice tinged with a bit of maternal concern.
Ben Parker pulled out his wallet and produced ten crisp hundred-dollar bills. "Take this, kid! Have a great time today."
"Thanks, Uncle Ben." Silas accepted the money. Even though he wasn't short on cash, he appreciated the gesture. He left the house under Ben's smiling gaze.
"BEN!" Aunt May barked as soon as the door closed.
"What?" Ben jumped. "Why are you shouting?"
Aunt May walked over, annoyed. "You didn't even ask where the boy was going before giving him all that money?"
"Oh, is that all? Don't worry, I know exactly where he's going." Ben gave a knowing smirk. He had overheard Silas and Misty talking in the hallway yesterday, making plans for today.
"Well? Where is he going?"
"It's a secret," Ben replied mysteriously.
"Aunt May, Silas went on a date," Peter added, looking toward the door with envy. He really needed a date.
"A date?" Aunt May's temper flared even higher. She swatted Ben's shoulder. "Then you only gave him a thousand dollars?!"
"???" Ben was stunned. Was a thousand dollars not enough?
Even Peter was dazed. That was it—he had to find a girlfriend immediately.
The Shadow Kingdom
After breakfast, Peter headed into the shadows.
"Peter?" Little Black was surprised to see him.
"Hi, Little Black. I'm just here to borrow the lab and some tools," Peter explained.
Little Black nodded. "Of course." He gestured toward the workstations. "Are you working on the Black Light 5.0?"
"Yeah," Peter lied. He didn't know that the symbiote research was happening in a separate, restricted lab nearby.
After a brief chat, Peter entered a private lab and picked up his tools. "Time to upgrade the web-shooters." He disassembled his suit's shooters and laid them on the bench.
"Hello, Peter. Do you require assistance?" Alpha's voice chimed in.
"Yes, I do."
Having an AI's help was crucial for equipment design. They could calculate errors to a microscopic level, helping Peter craft exactly what he envisioned. The newest version of the Black Light suit had only been possible because of Alpha.
"Alright, let's start with..."
Peter spent the entire morning in the lab, his suit being scanned by robotic arms for repairs and improvements while he worked on his new gadgets.
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