Timeline Note: After Instance 'You Were The Chosen One!', day before Game 'Blood On The Dance Floor'
<Venom> Bike prepared as soon as possible, Eddie pulled it out of the garage, making sure his bag was strapped tightly to the back of it. He looked up at the mansion as he prepared his helmet - any damned second somebody would find Cessily, and the moment they did, he was screwed.
<Venom> But before that, he needed to kill Kraven. That was the objective. And nothing bar was going to stop him doing just that - not morality, not sentiment, not fear. With a deep breath, he donned his helmet, slapping the visor down and jumping his leg over the Daytona, revving the engine - it was time to jump ship; sink or swim.
<@Hope> Hope was headed down to her car, pack over her shoulder, when she caught sight of Eddie on his bike. That jerk was so not about to leave without her. "Hey! Wait up!" She hustled over to him.
<Venom> Eddie glanced to her, eyes scowling behind his visor. To hell with that - there was no way he was waiting on the entire X-er roster to jump him, "Sorry Hope - no time for love!" he called to her, kicking his motorcycle into gear.
<@Hope> "You are not leaving without me, asshole!" She tapped into powers to catch up to him before he could take off. "Look... I know what Bobby said. I don't listen to him and you shouldn't either."
<Venom> "Wait, what!?" Eddie shook his head - how the fuck many days ago had that been!? He growled, sliding to a stop on the asphalt, "J-just...GET ON! I'll...ugh, talk later! Hurry up!" he snapped, unable to control his voice from distorting.
<Venom> They could talk later - now was not the time, "MOVE IT, STARK!"
<@Hope> Wasting no time, Hope swung up onto the bike and held onto him tightly. "Let's go!"
<Venom> Eddie practically lifted off the moment she was sat on the bike, pushing as much speed out of it as the engine would allow. The world streaked past, the two leaving the grounds in mere seconds - when they stopped, he was going to have a long talk with his passenger...
--- Time Passes ---
<@Hope> When Eddie stopped the bike at a motel, Hope wasn't sure if she was going to be sick or not. She was positive that she had never gone that fast before in her life outside of an airplane or powers. She eased off the bike and swallowed, steadying herself.
<Venom> The motel was in the middle of nowhere; a broken down, slummy part of the city. Somewhere out of sight, and out of mind. Eddie counted on this fact as he stepped off his bike, removing a chain from his bag and binding it to the lamp post before taking his helmet off and grabbing his bag,
<Venom> "Inside." he commanded Hope, stepping past her and entering the motel.
<@Hope> So bossy! Hope shot him a look before she did what he asked, going inside the motel room and looking around. Well it certainly wasn't the ritz, but hopefully it was bed bug free. She leaned back against the dresser, waiting for him.
<Venom> It was a few minutes before Eddie returned, kicking the door shut behind himself and casting his bag onto the bed. He turned and locked the door, slipping the keys into his coat and going about closing the blinds, "Si'down." he said over his shoulder.
<@Hope> Hope took her own pack off and set it on the dresser before she hopped up beside it. A thought occurred to her that she was a snob. She had stayed in plenty of worse places than this! She got down and moved to sit in an actual chair. There.
<Venom> Eddie sat on the bed facing her, placing his helmet beside him, and raising his arm, forming a crooked blade from it and tapping her leg, "Hope, I am going to make this really simple: I am here to kill someone. If you get in my way, I'll kill you. I swear it."
<Venom> He raised the blade to her face, "I just kicked Cessily out of the game, so don't think copying my power will save you. She's not dead, but you? You will be."
<@Hope> Hope rolled her eyes and shoved the blade carefully away. "If I was going to get in your way I would have done it at the mansion, dumbass. With limitless powers and a body guard. I'm here because you said we were in this together. We are going to find Johnny and Jamie. Bobby is a fucking hypocrite... who I should probably tell I'm alive before he hunts me down." Damn. She hadn't thought this through.
<Venom> "Forget him!" Eddie reverted his hand back, sighing and looking away, "So....you...know that I'm gonna kill Kraven? You're...ok with it?"
<@Hope> "I don't give a flying fuck about Kraven. If they had killed him the first chance they got, he wouldn't be here killing people now!" She backed off a bit, sighing. "Sorry... it's... the last person who went off alone, didn't come back. You know that..."
<Venom> "It was MY fault." Eddie responded, no sooner than she'd finished her own sentence, "Hope, she left to protect me from myself, and now she's gone. This is on me, this is ALL on me, and I have to stop him." he looked up at her, "Hope, I have to do this. And you have to let me."
<@Hope> "Then do it. But you're not going alone." She reached for his hand. "Eddie... I know you were close to Cassie. Sounds like even closer than to me, or even Illyana. I get that. There are a thousand reasons for me to be here. Right here. Right now. You can probably do it by yourself... I mean come on, look at you..."
<@Hope> "But Cassie thought she could do it alone too. Johnny and Jamie thought they could do it alone. And if you do it alone, then I have to do it alone too. You said we were in this together. So let's do this together. I won't stop you from killing Kraven. Don't stop me from going with you."
<Venom> Eddie frowned a little, "....I just....I-I didn't want her to get hurt, Hope. I begged her not to go, I did...." he looked down at his hands, "I begged her to just let me...." he shook his head, "...the things I've done for this....the people I've...."
<@Hope> "You aren't a monster. Of course you didn't want her to get hurt. Everyone thinks you're crazy right now, but what are they doing to help? Sitting on their asses. I can't. I won't. Not while he's still alive. And I'm not about to let you get eaten either. As badass as either of us is alone... do you think these bastards stand any kind of chance against us together?"
<Venom> A smile crept on to Eddie's face, confident as it used to be, "Heh....yeah. Yeah, you're right." his eyes seemed to brighten a little, "Y-you really think I'm right? That I'm doing the right thing?"
<@Hope> Hope grinned a bit. "I don't want this psycho coming back for another bite of Johnny once I rescue him. His ass is mine and mine alone. I don't share."
<Venom> "Kraven is MY TARGET. You can take anyone else, but that sonofabitch is going to pay for Cassie's death by MY hand." Eddie stated, cold and harsh as he'd been the whole trip, "Other than that, we're sold." he held out his hand, smiling again, "Thanks, Hope. Like, really....thank you."
<@Hope> "You can have Kraven. I meant Johnny's hot ass." Even though the joke felt flat in her mouth. It sucked to think about how much she missed him and his stupid face. "I already told you. I won't get in your way."
<Venom> Eddie nodded, "Alright, then we're all set." he lay back on the bed, taking a deep breath, "Good God, I cannot believe this is happening..."
<@Hope> "It's like some sick movie or something. I just hope it has a happy ending for us." Hope pulled her knees up, resting her feet on the edge of the chair.
<Venom> "I don't believe I can be saved anymore..." Eddie breathed in a whisper, "...not after all this. Eddie Brock is gone..."
<@Hope> "Saved is a relative term." Hope rested her forehead against her knees. "Eddie is still in there... otherwise I'd be dead."
<Venom> "Maybe, maybe not...." he replied, sounding tired and sighing again, "...room service?" he looked up at her a little.
--- Time Passes ---
<@Hope> Hope sighed and reached for a slice of pizza from her seat on the bed, glancing around for the remote to turn up the TV. "Mmmm, either we're starving, or this is the best pizza ever," she told Eddie as she took a bite.
<Venom> "It IS surprisingly good." Eddie managed a little smile, finishing his own slice and sitting back, watching the movie on the small TV at the foot of the bed. He vaguely followed it - an old western, something with enough cheesy dialogue to make the pizza taste vegetarian - turning back to Hope,
<Venom> "So...." he started, "...here we are, huh?"
<@Hope> "Yeah... here we are." She took another bite, thinking a moment. "So you and Cassie, huh? Why didn't you say anything?"
<Venom> Eddie frowned, looking away, "It's....not like that. I....I think. It's complicated. Or...i-it was complicated...."
<@Hope> "Complicated how?" Hope took another bite.
<Venom> "We weren't....y-you know...I mean, she was sixteen." he sighed, "Cassie was....I don't know. She looked up to me, o-or I thought she did. I felt like she was my protégé in a way, she reminded me of myself when I was younger." smiling a little, he drew out the phone he'd retrieved, just looking at it,
<Venom> "A-and she...cared about me. Liza's been distant, like she's running away. And everyone thinks I'm this monster, but Cassie...she believed in me." Eddie gulped, "She...really cared about me and I let her die..."
<@Hope> "And somewhere along the way you fell for her." Hope pointed out, taking another bite. "You loved her, didn't you?"
<Venom> Unsure of how to answer, Eddie just stared at the phone for a moment that seemed to draw out forever...
<Venom> ".....I don't....know."
<@Hope> Hope finished her bite of pizza and rested her hand on Eddie. "I'm not here to judge you... but that's the same kind of rage I'd have if..." she didn't want to finish that condition.
<Venom> Eddie nodded, "Yeah....yeah, maybe." he sighed, "Anyway, it doesn't matter now. She's gone. All that matters is avenging her, and stopping the psychopath who hurt her."
<@Hope> "Exactly... speaking of hurting people... what happened to Quentin?"
<Venom> Visibly stiffening at the mention of that name, Eddie shrugged, "....he went missing, right?"
<@Hope> "Why don't you tell me?" Hope looked at him, not taking her eyes away.
<Venom> "....hm." Eddie let out a dry laugh, "Well played." he turned to her, looking more than a little downcast, "...I won't lie to you. It was me who found him after we discovered Cassie. I er....I questioned him. Did some....other.....things...."
<@Hope> "Find out anything useful?"
<Venom> Shaking his head, Eddie glanced aside again, "...I er...I didn't..." he sighed, "....to be honest, I didn't speak to him so I could ask him anything. He was a peon, he didn't know a damned thing and I took him aside knowing that...."
<Venom> He took a deep breath, "I tortured him. For hours. Because..."
<@Hope> "Little bastard deserved it, but you really think he doesn't know where he took them?""
<Venom> "I asked him about Kraven. And to be honest, I didn't want an answer." he pulled his knees up, hugging them, "Damnit, Hope, I wanted to hurt him. All I wanted to do was make him suffer for this."
<@Hope> Hope resisted her urge to smack him for being an idiot. This whole time, they could have had Johnny back by now. "Well if we catch anyone else... I get to ask them questions and then you can hurt them. Deal?"
<Venom> Eddie looked up at her, "I truthfully don't think he knows much anyway. You think he'd have spoken after I tore off the second nail....or when i bit off his ear...." he shrugged, turning away, "Or maybe not.....I don't know."
<@Hope> "I don't know... but he knows where he took them. Glad you hurt the bastard." Hope sighed and grabbed another slice of pizza. "He deserved every bit of it."
<Venom> He deserved worse....and we will deliver...
<Venom> Shuddering, Eddie nodded, "Yeah. Yeah, he did." he reached for another slice of pizza himself, "They all do."
<@Hope> "Yeah... you were in a rush to get here.. why are we here?"
<Venom> "Hm?" Eddie managed over a bite of pizza, swallowing it immediately, "Oh....er...." he frowned, "You meant it when you said you understood why I did what I did, right?" he sat up a little more, "Because if you freak out..."
<@Hope> "I think it's a little late for freaking out... what did you do?"
<Venom> "I....incapacitated Cessily." he shrugged, "...p-politely."
<@Hope> "...Fucking hell, Eddie." Hope ran her fingers through her hair. "Then I need to send a text," before the army came after them. "No wonder you were in a rush."
<Venom> "SHE TRIED TO STOP ME." Eddie's hand landed on her shoulder, "I asked her to leave me and she wouldn't. I had no choice."
<@Hope> "I'm sure." She sent Bobby a text, then sighed, leaning back against the pillows. "Is she going to be ok?"
<Venom> Eddie nodded, "Yeah, her power is the same as mine. She'll be fine, it's just a little electricity." he tapped his chest, "I have similar powers. She'll re-form from it, but she'll not be fighting for a while, that's for sure." he looked away, "I warned her not to get in my way."
<@Hope> "Well thanks for that at least. Annnnything else I should know about?"
<Venom> "Yeah. You should stop asking questions." Eddie sighed, uncurling onto the bed and lying back again, going back to his food, "You're either in this, or you ain't. People get in the way, people get slapped down. Deal."
<@Hope> "It's cute how you think I will stop." She smirked at him. "Secrets get people killed."
<Venom> "I think if you want to stay here you'll stop taking the piss." he remarked, eyes still on the TV screen.
<@Hope> Hope looked at him, then laughed. "Yeah. Get some rest, Eddie." She shoved a pillow at him. They were both going to need it.
<Venom> Intercepting the pillow, Eddie managed a weak smile, "Mmn." he nodded, wiping his mouth as he finished the last bite of food and dragging the pillow behind his head. He turned on his side, risking a glance at Cassandra's phone once more. Only a matter of time now...