Just as Venom was about to take a bite—
Bang!
From far, far away, a crisp gunshot shattered the forest's silence!
Almost simultaneously, a sharp, peculiarly pitched whistle followed, piercing their eardrums.
Several of Venom's tentacles entwining Hyde snapped instantly. The severed limbs splattered onto the ground as black ooze, then rapidly writhed and retracted back into the main body.
"Ugh!" Venom grunted, its massive white eyes snapping towards the direction of the attack, fury instantly ignited. "Oh? Seems you have backup? I wonder if they're as tasty as you?"
It licked its newly regenerated tentacle, its tone turning 'cheerful' again, but beneath that cheer lay an icy killing intent.
"What's that whistle supposed to mean? Calling the puppy home?"
However, Victor, inside Venom, felt something was wrong.
The frequency of that whistle stirred up an intensely ominous feeling of disgust and wariness, buried deep within his memories.
"Venom! Be careful!" he cried out in his mind.
But it was already too late.
The firmly restrained monster seemed to have received some command. Its throat convulsed violently and unnaturally, as if something was being forcibly squeezed out from within!
Venom's eyes instantly contracted. It saw the small, dark object being vomited out.
"Motherf—" Venom only had time to curse, "Flashbang!"
BOOM——!!!
A deafening explosion and blinding, intense light erupted within that confined space!
A Flashbang's power isn't physical impact, but a devastating sensory assault. Moreover, loud noise is one of Venom's weaknesses.
For Venom and Victor, who rely on superhuman senses and a stable symbiotic state, this was a precise strike!
"Aaargh—!" Venom let out a roar of pain and rage. Its massive body twisted and undulated violently, the black ooze boiling and churning, almost separating from Victor's body!
Its form became extremely unstable, its white eyes flickering madly from pain and interference.
In this brief, fatal moment of disruption, the force binding it weakened abruptly. Hyde violently broke free from the remaining tentacles.
It didn't even bother with its lingering injuries, letting out a low growl mixed with pain and relief. It turned with astonishing speed, crashed through the underbrush, and vanished into the dense, dark forest in an instant.
"Bastard! Don't run!"
Venom tried to give chase, but the intense sonic and flash interference persisted, making it difficult to maintain cohesion. Its movements became stumbling and chaotic.
A few seconds later, the Flashbang's effects gradually faded.
But the best opportunity for pursuit was already lost.
Venom deflated like a punctured balloon. Its massive body rapidly shrank and collapsed, receding back into Victor's body like a retreating tide, leaving Victor standing alone.
Victor's body trembled violently. His legs gave way, and he knelt on the ground, hands braced against the earth. His body twitched uncontrollably, as if bearing a tremendous burden.
Silence once again enveloped this forest clearing, now permeated with the smell of blood and gunpowder.
Only the sound of Victor's barely suppressed, quiet sobs remained.
Wednesday stood in place, watching the breathtaking battle—far beyond normal comprehension—that had abruptly begun and just as abruptly ended.
She looked at Victor's trembling back, hesitated for a moment, but ultimately walked stiffly towards him.
She wasn't accustomed to such situations, especially facing a... man who seemed to be crying.
"Are you... alright?" Her voice was still cool, attempting to inject a note of comfort, but it came out stiff and unnatural.
She reached out, steadying Victor's shoulder, helping him slowly rise from the ground.
Using her support, Victor turned around, his face towards her.
Moonlight filtered through the branches, illuminating his face.
There were indeed tear tracks on his cheeks, glistening wetly in the faint light.
But his expression... those were not tears of pain or sorrow.
It was a face twisted with extreme excitement and ecstasy!
A sinister smile stretched almost to his ears. His eyes burned with a scorching, nearly mad light. Unnaturally alluring flushes colored his pale cheeks.
That expression, mixed with the still-damp tear tracks, exuded a dangerous, captivating aura that made one inexplicably want to... defile.
"Oh, Wednesday..." Victor's voice trembled with an ultimate, profound pleasure. He grabbed the arm Wednesday was using to support him, his grip somewhat uncontrolled, but Wednesday didn't shake him off.
"I knew it... I knew it!" he repeated, his eyes frighteningly bright. "Even Venom knows to hide chocolate in different places... How could they possibly have only one nest?"
His laughter was low, hoarse, and unrestrained, brimming with the ecstasy of discovering treasure.
"It must be them! Only they would know our weakness! Only they would use this... this method!" He pointed to his own ears, still ringing slightly, his smile growing even more radiant.
"Wonderful... just wonderful!" He almost danced on the spot, gripping Wednesday's arm tightly.
"We get to play games together again! This time... this time I'll definitely find their 'main nest'! Dig out all the 'chocolate' and eat it up!"
His words were delirious and disjointed, but Wednesday understood.
The people from the lab.
Those wearing bird-beak masks.
They had appeared, announcing their return in this manner.
Victor wasn't crying from failure. He was crying from excitement—excitement at the reappearance of his enemies, at the 'game' starting anew.
"Ah~" Victor let out a long, satisfied sigh, as if tasting the most exquisite delicacy in the world.
The unnatural flush on his pale face grew even more vivid. His eyes sparkled with a morbid, fanatical light.
"It's just too wonderful... The mere thought of this scene gets me so high!"
He suddenly stood up straight, as if the earlier twitching and weakness had never existed. His strength was so great he even pulled Wednesday off-balance.
But he didn't let go. Instead, he used the momentum to raise Wednesday's hand high, his other arm firmly encircling her waist.
There was no music, only the faint, distant clamor from the Harvest Festival and the background scent of blood in the forest.
Victor paid it no mind. He took her hand and, right there in the clearing—still littered with the aftermath of a bloody massacre and scattered limbs—began an elegant yet mad waltz.
His steps were precise and aggressive, leading Wednesday in spins and turns. The edges of his black clothes fluttered in the cool night breeze.
In this moment, all foolishness and chatter were gone. That sinister, dangerous aura, as if he were the abyss itself, poured out unrestrained, like the most potent poison, striking a corner deep within Wednesday's heart she herself had never noticed.
Wednesday's mind went blank.
She should push him away. She should mock this absurd behavior with her most venomous words. She should maintain the highest vigilance against his clearly unstable mental state.
But her body moved stiffly, even compliantly, following his lead.
Her gaze couldn't tear away from his face—a mix of madness and ultimate pleasure, tear-streaked yet breathtakingly smiling.
This dark quality, this madness of dancing gracefully beside Carnage, was like a key, unexpectedly unlocking her tightly guarded heart.
"Wednesday." Victor's voice lowered, becoming magnetic, almost hypnotically husky, as he leaned close to her ear.
The voice felt electric, sending an unfamiliar shiver down even Wednesday's resolute spine for an instant.
"The Academy, the prophecy, the murders, the monsters, the mastermind..." he listed them off like an incantation, each word striking a chord within Wednesday.
"All these elements combined make for an epic detective novel, don't they?"
His dance steps slowly ceased, but the arm around her waist remained.
He gave a slight bow, like a noble gentleman from the Middle Ages, and extended his hand to Wednesday once more, palm up. His eyes were filled with challenging, expectant flames.
"Miss Wednesday Addams." He pronounced the name clearly.
Wednesday jolted, her pupils contracting slightly.
Miss Wednesday Addams—this was the name of the detective novel protagonist hidden deep within her typewritten manuscript, a character she had shown to no one.
A cold, sharp, super-intelligent female detective based on herself.
How did he know?!
"I think," Victor's smile deepened, as if seeing through all her shock and confusion. His voice was like a demon's whisper.
"Even the most brilliant Sherlock Holmes needs a Watson who can keep up with his thoughts and occasionally bring unexpected surprises, don't you agree?"
He looked at Wednesday, his gaze burning and focused, awaiting her response. It wasn't a team invitation amidst dismembered bodies, but a proposal to share the rest of one's life after a grand ball.
Wednesday looked into his eyes—now fathomless yet burning with the same investigative desire and dark excitement as hers. She glanced at Rowan's gruesome remains on the ground and the distant lights of the Academy.
The plan to escape lay in utter ruins.
But a new 'game,' larger, more complex, and more aligned with her aesthetics, had already drawn back its bloody curtain.
And she seemed to have found a... perhaps the most unpredictable, but possibly also the most interesting 'partner.'
The corner of her mouth, very slowly, uncontrollably, lifted into a tiny yet utterly genuine curve.
She raised her hand and placed her fingertips steadily into his waiting palm.
"You're hired, Watson." Her voice regained its usual chill, but beneath that coldness surged an unprecedented, eager undercurrent.
"You're going to love Nevermore Academy."
Though extremely reluctant to admit it, at this moment, a line her mother Morticia had once spoken surfaced absurdly in the depths of her mind, and for the first time, she felt a flicker of agreement.
"Yes, Mother, I think... I'm going to love it here."