3 Chapter 3) – Die For Me

After removing my imbedded incognito state, whereby I am indistinguishable from her skin, from the top of Mara's neck down to the bottom of her feet. I proceed to change my shape to match what I could recall of her combat suit. Due to the form-fitting nature of her combat suit the complexity of this fitting is almost negligible since it is essentially just an extra layer of skin with a different colour – matching my own black and burgundy colouring, red coloured for her legs to her waist, and black from the waist up. 

Practically melting into goo she moans, "Mmmmnh~ El why does it feel so good when you move around me~? It's like I'm being hugged by cotton candy~"

"A Klyntar's purpose is our host. Naturally anything involving said host would not induce any pain or discomfort, rather it is the exact opposite. Every species has a capacity for pleasure and with the information I gathered from yourself and the inheritance I can ensure nothing I do will ever cause you anything other than pleasure or comfort."

"Ooooh~ If that's the case I can't see myself ever separating from you baby~"

"That is the aim, Mara. Although there may be times we separate, it will be for the purpose of strengthening both you and I as additional genetic data will allow me to augment us at a fundamental level."

"Does that mean you need to bond with someone to analyse their DNA or can you just, like, eat 'em?"

"I can consume them and integrate their genetic sequence that way yes. But you mentioned earlier about how you appreciate I would not eat everyone we see, so the bonding is an alternative."

"Hmmm, how long does a bond take for you to get whatever it is you need from them?"

"A forceful bond can be made in 48 hours, from initial contact to complete genetic bond."

Turning to look at the still unconscious Shriek, Mara, sporting a smile on her face, points at her before saying, "Well here's the first of your gifts El, this little puppy down here may be able to cure one of your weaknesses! From what I can remember, and have experienced, about Klyntar's you guys suffer a debilitating weakness to sound yeah? Old Shriek has a genetic mutation where she can produce powerful sonic screams. That by itself doesn't really help you out, BUT her screams never hurt herself. Can you see where I'm going with this~?"

As my mind takes in the information Mara supplies me, I exclaim in a small, almost imperceptible voice, "She is Immune to sonic sounds?"

"Ding Ding Ding, 100 points to the handsome looking Symbiote! Correct baby, this little specimen may hold the key to make you immune to your sound weakness! Now eat up, you've still got a few more gifts after this."

Feeling Mara's emotional state through our bond, I am able to determine that our feelings are similar. We are both excited and happy. I do not fully understand if these are my own emotions or if they are simply Mara's that she is transmitting to me now that we are connected. Either way, being able to remove one of only two currently known Klyntar weaknesses on my first day of existence is exhilarating! 

"Thank you, Mara. Human words cannot describe how monumental such a gift is for my species."

"Yeah, yeah, enough sappy shit. Eat her first and make sure my theory is correct before we find out I was wrong."

"Okay. Could you pick her up by her head with your hand to make this easier?"

Albeit slightly confused, Mara follows through with my request, crouching down before grasping the one she called Shriek on the temples of her head and lifting her into the air with one hand.

"Damn, I really am a helluva lot stronger now. It doesn't even feel like I'm holding anything in my hand she's that light!"

Whilst Mara was marvelling over her newly gained strength, I move my 'head' back into the full-body suit before transitioning it down Mara's hand. I explode the 'head' out like a shark breaking the water to clamp down my jaws on the unmoving prey's head in one fluid movement, encasing it in its entirety, and cleanly severing it from her neck. As the rest of Shriek's headless corpse crumples to the ground, accompanied by a fountain of blood expunging from her neck and a sea of effluvia from the lower half of her body.

A started gasp comes from my host's mouth, "Holy shit that was sick! Do Klyntar's need to digest their food or like absorb it over time? How does the genetic mumbo-jumbo work exactly? And do you just need the head, or do you need the whole body?"

Mara's excitement was infectious, and my reply came out an octave higher than usual as her emotions spread through me.

<We do not need to digest food and although we can absorb it over time stay satiated, the easiest method is instantly bond with extract what before discarding rest. Since worry about keeping alive, bonding process infinitely quicker than even forced bonding. For 'genetic mumbo-jumbo' as you so graciously called it, cells at molecular level access brain's still living DNA. We then break apart individual strands analyse differences between various samples from same species determine where differing are located, which ones cause varying mutations. only head that all genetic information for entire body stored. However, does be or very recently dead rapidly deteriorate within a matter of minutes.>

"Seems simple enough, I guess, so how long do you think this analysis and comparison will take?"

Accompanying the sound of Shriek's dilapidated skull ejecting from my liquid form and shattering on the grassy hill Mara has been situated on top of since the beginning of the bonding process. I again protrude my 'head' out from her shoulder blades and inform her, "It is done already."

"That fast?! Did you not say you needed comparison data from other humans to find the right DNA thingy?"

"The inheritance memories of Venom and Carnage contained hundreds of human's worth of data. An anomaly like Shriek's mutation was fairly easy to narrow down once I focused on her ear canal and larynx genetic data."

"So does that mean you're now immune to sonic sounds and your only weakness is fire?! Can I also screech like Shriek now?"

"You are correct in that I am now completely immune to sonic frequencies. Currently the only known weakness I have is fire, but there may be others we are not aware of. Unfortunately, we are not bonded deep enough for me to pass these abilities to you genetically. But, when I cover you entirely into a 'suit form' like Venom or Carnage did, you can use them as I am the one emitting the sonics and your ears are protected in that form."

Watching Mara's expression was like the rollercoasters that humans ride. She was first overjoyed at us now having immunity to sonics which is arguably the more dangerous of the two weaknesses. This is due to the range it can be used from and the technological state of Earth making it easy to produce for any human anywhere with minimal preparation. Fire needs to be close-range and with an intensity not many humans have access to unless they specifically want to burn something. Her excitement then dropped, and an emotion called disappointment or sadness could be felt when I told her she could not use Shriek's ability. But then she became elated again when I informed her that she would be able to use it eventually as we deepened our bond and could use it in suit form any time.

She was very expressive; it was interesting seeing how her face would change to match her mood. More investigation into this was required to see what other expressions she can make so that I could better understand host Mara.

"As much as I would love to test that out, we have a few more things to sort out like your remaining gifts. Without further ado I present to you the only remaining Klyntar's on Earth! From what I know of your species you can get stronger by consuming other Klyntar correct?"

Although the other Symbiotes were not hidden, I did not realise that Mara planned to feed them to me. I had assumed that they were to be given to others. But thinking about it now, the one she called Toxin aside, the other 2 definitely could not be left to bond with another again given their disposition to want to eat any random human they see.

"You are right again Mara. I can indeed get stronger by consuming others of my species. Do you want me to consume all 3, or just the 2 genocidal ones?"

Nodding she confirms, "All 3 please babe. I don't plan to let them run free, so having you absorb them to improve yourself is better than them starving to death and going to waste."

"I have been meaning to ask, why do you call me baby or babe? Did you not give me the name Elysium or El?"

A very noticeable red crept onto Mara's face, turning it a bright pink shade and with the emotion of nervousness she was feeling, it made me realise that she was blushing due to embarrassment that humans sometimes feel.

"*Ahem* well, you said that we're basically going to be with each other for both our lives now, soooo it's kinda like getting married. I figured that if we're basically a couple I may as well use endearing terms like babe or baby. I've also admittedly never been in a committed relationship before, so I apologise if I've been a bit headstrong with the pet names."

"Now that you mention it, the human concept of marriage is an appropriate comparison to our bond, so I suppose it would not be incorrect to say we are married if that so pleases you. I also do not mind the 'pet names' as you call them. As I said before, names are irrelevant to us Klyntar's so you can call me anything you want… Babe…"

Mara instantly replaces all her previous embarrassment with happiness to such an extent that even my 'face' breaks out into a smile reflexively imitating her. 

"Perfect~ Now chop-chop get to eating and tell me what benefit you get from them!"

Following Mara's words, I decide to open each cube one at a time to reduce the strain placed on me by trying to absorb too many of my kind at once. The first is obviously my parent, the one Mara named Toxin, and the weakest of the three.

"Mara, do you want to do the same thing we did with Shriek, or do you want me to cover you in the 'suit' form and I can take control for a little while to absorb these three?"

"Ooooo suit form, suit form! I wanna see how badass we look!"

Bulking out the combat suit Mara was currently wearing; I increased the density of my form as much as possible to maximise the superhuman affinities we shared whilst also preventing the overall size of the suit from getting too big and hindering movement while in control. To finish off the suit I cover her entire head giving her the same facial features I have on my face-to-face form: Eyes the same as Venom's but slightly more jagged, and smaller teeth with no gum showing. Her hair also grows longer as I cover it turning it more into living tendrils, than the shoulder length hair she previously sported. The combat suit she was wearing already matched my colour but now her entire being is dyed in my colours. Our overall height also increased from Mara's original 5'10" to just over 5'11".

[Mirror! I need a mirror quick!]

"There is no mirror, but the water over there should let you see your reflection."

[Good Idea! Quick El, get over there. I would walk myself, but I don't know how strong I am like this, and I don't wanna embarrass myself.]

"Sure thing, Mara"

Striding over to the nearby pond with a sign saying 'Strawberry Park' next to it, I angle our form so that the moonlight reflects off the surface of the water and thus gives Mara a clear view of what we look like.

[Kyaaa~ We look so cool!! It's better than I dreamed it would be!]

Since Mara couldn't speak verbally right now due to me having the majority control of our body, she had to speak telepathically. Unfortunately, since she was a novice all of her thoughts were coming through the connection. So, after roughly 10 minutes of fawning over our appearance and the strength she could feel running through our body, we made our way back to the Klyntar cubes.

Picking up the Toxin cube, I open the side panel before grabbing the squirming Klyntar with my hand. Without pause I stuff my weakened parent into my mouth before chomping down, shredding and crushing the Symbiote with reckless abandon, overpowering it completely in its weakened state, before assimilating it just as quickly as I did Shriek's brain.

[So, did anything change? I haven't noticed anything except feeling a little stronger.] Mara asked when she noticed I had finished eating.

"Apart from some additional red and black strands appearing on my body, the volume of my being has increased. Essentially, I have increased in size. While this might not seem like a huge benefit, by compressing my size to before the assimilation I can increase the density of my body making us even stronger. To put it simply, if before your strength in incognito form was a 5, and the suit form was 15, then your solo form should be 7 and bonded should be 19."

[It's not a massive increase in our abilities, but it's better than nothing. Plus, that guy was basically as old as you with 0 life experience. I have a very strong feeling that the other two will increase our strength a fair bit more than that little shrimp!]

"Agreed, they should supply us with quite the boon. Even in their weakened state after such a hard-fought battle, and not being able to feed to recover."

Progressing in very much the same manner, the remaining Carnage and Venom Klyntar's were consumed and added to our strength. Unsurprisingly, this brought about some impressive ability changes as well as physical changes to a higher degree than the Toxin absorption.

"I do not think it would be an exaggeration to say that I am the strongest new-born Klyntar to have ever existed in this universe. If previously our bonded strength was 19, it would not be a stretch if I were to estimate it currently at roughly 40 and your inherent strength at a 14. Not to mention the immunity to my Sonic weakness that very few, if not none at all, would be able to overcome. We are at over twice as strong as Venom in his 'suit' form now, and that is with the very first bond stage!"

[What about our physical appearance? Are we still the same colour since technically you absorbed the same colours in even amounts?]

Adjusting myself to the new levels of strength coursing through my being, I make my way over to the same pond we used to inspect out suit appearance last time.

"Hmmm it would appear so." Shifting parts of my form around to manipulate the colours, I test the current capabilities with my new abilities gained from the sacrificial Klyntar's. "With the additional mass I have gained, it would seem I am able to control the distribution of the colour instead of being stuck with defined red and black halves. We have also grown taller in our suit form; we are probably around 6'2" in human measurements now."

[Red and black… fuck it, we're copying Spider-Man! Oh-oh! Scream as well since I have this badass hair! This is going even better than I imagined, I was content with only minimal customization, but now we can go the full 9-yards!]

"I am unaware of what a 'Spider-Man' or 'Scream' are, but if you describe what you want, I will change our form as you require. I can also change the colours to make the suit a singular colour my moving the unwanted one deeper into your body if you so wish."

[Nah the red and black go really well together so I'll probably stick with that. So, basically, what I think would look the coolest would be if from the neck down the suit is all black except the front which has some burgundy on like my chest down to my *ahem* reproductive area as you called it, just to add a bit of colour to it. I've always loved my red hair as well so make my head and hair matching burgundy as well. It should perfectly balance out the colours since you can make my hair longer. Oh, also, add a bit of black to my face to emphasise my eyes and mouth if you can.]

Following Mara's description as best I can, I rearrange the current chaotic mix of red and black to what she has envisioned. This results in her becoming increasingly excitable as the form she described takes shape.

[We're sooo close to perfect, just need 1 tiny change. On my breastbone or sternum, whatever it's called, could you make a spider symbol? Pretty please?!]

"Of course, Mara." Making the slight adjustment she requested, Mara begins giggling uncontrollably.

[HeheheHAHAHA It's perfect El! You're the BEST Baby~]

"I am glad you like it. What do you want to do now Mara?" 

[Hehehe *ahem* For now, we're going to Hawaii. If everything goes as intended, we'll be able to enjoy a phenomenal adventure!]