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Marvel: King of The Swarm Chapter 2: Symbiotic
🕑 Added 2025-05-29 00:55:18 +0000 UTCNorman's eyes were beginning to tear up as he stared unblinking at his son waiting, praying for a miracle. Seconds passed like hours each one an eternity for Norman but then everything changed.
The symbiote pulsed before invading Harry's body, permeating through the pores of his skin and vanishing from sight. For a moment nothing happened then Harry's body jerked like it had been electrocuted as dark purple veins spread across his pale skin.
"Harry!" Norman exclaimed and he ran over a monitoring station quickly pulling up his son's vitals. Reading over the charts Norman wept as for the first time in years his son's heart began to pump on its own, and his brain showed signs of activity, "I did it…I saved him!"
Unable to wait a moment longer Norman typed a command into the monitor which caused all the tubes in Harry to detach before draining the tank.
A grate opened in the bottom of Harry's bio-body and the nutrient solution was voided leaving Harry lying on the cold metal bottom. When no solution remained a door opened and Norman dashed through before dropping to his knees and cradling Harry's limp body in his arms, "Come one Harry, wake up! I know you're in there! Wake up damnit!"
"He needs biomass."
Norman froze before he slowly looked up and found himself face to face with a horrifying visage, "So…you are sentient."
Nyx smiled revealing a mouth full of golden dagger-like teeth, with her disembodied held aloft on a series of tendrils emerging from Harry's shoulder, "Hello Norman, I don't know if I should curse you or thank you for allowing me to bond with your progeny."
"Save my son first, then you can do whatever you want to me," Normal replied in hostility, staring Nyx down.
"Your son's body is attempting to repair itself, but it needs the proper materials to do so," Nyx informed before glancing down at Harry, "Do that and your son will survive and emerge stronger than ever."
Norman hesitated for a moment before he set Harry down and left, only to return a few minutes later huffing and puffing as he dragged the body of his head biologist into the bio pod and dumped it next to Harry.
"There! Is that enough material for you?" Norman asked glaring at the symbiote silently daring it to try something.
Nyx looked from the body to Norman and nodded, "It is…sufficient."
Then without warning Nyx's jaw unhinged and she pounced on the corpse, in a matter of seconds the nearly two-hundred-pound man was gone without a trace. Norman watched the entire scene with a morbid fascination.
After finishing her meal Nyx turned to Norman one final time, "It'll take your son approximately a month to recover, don't interfere otherwise you may be his undoing."
Before Norman could reply Nyx wrapped Harry in a protective cocoon as he began to undergo a drastic transformation that would merge the two of them into one being.
In a slow wave of sensation, Harry gradually felt his awareness return to his body first moving a finger and then opening his eyes. A decision Harry regretted almost immediately as the bright sterile lights suspended above him burned his sensitive orbs. Thankfully a golden film quickly coated Harry's eyes followed by Nyx's soothing voice in his mind, 'Welcome back Harry, how do you feel?'
Harry was silent for a moment before a grin spread across his face, 'I feel…whole. Like a missing part of me was restored. And I can feel you…in my mind, my body…we really are one aren't we?'
'Yes we are,' Nyx confirmed, 'It took a month but I've managed to undo all the damage your mutation caused and now with our bond, your body is strong enough to handle your own powers.'
'The power that will allow you to create an entirely new species and conquer the universe?' Harry questioned as he slowly sat up in bed, getting used to having control of his body once more.
'Allow us to create and conquer,' Nyx corrected gently, 'I've spent a month bonding with every cell in your body including your brain. Even without our telepathic connection I could read your mind like a book. I viewed every memory, felt every emotion. I know there's a darkness inside of you Harry and it only became darker after the agony you suffered. Some would call it a disease or a disorder, I call it an evolutionary advantage.'
'You're saying I'm a sociopath?' Harry asked bluntly.
Nyx gave a mental shake of her head, 'You were born a psychopath, a genetic trait passed down by your father, then your subsequent torture caused your psyche to adopt sociopathic tendencies to cope.'
'So what does that mean? I won't be able to love another human being or feel any emotions?' Harry asked doubtfully, his brow furrowing as frustration bubbled inside of him.
But before Harry's emotions could reach a boiling point Nyx's presence warped around his mind like a warm soothing balm, 'It doesn't mean anything you don't want it to be. Do not limit yourself to human understanding…even before we bonded you were so much more. And if it's any consolation your conditions only make us more compatible, my desires found their mirror halves in your own psyche and vice versa.'
Harry paused for a moment simply taking in Nyx's words and relishing in the almost pleasurable feeling of her touch, 'You mean one day I'll want to take over the universe as well?'
Nyx laughed, a sound that Harry could listen to for eternity and never grow tired of, 'It's not a one-for-one exchange, it's finding the intersection of our goals. Tell me Harry, what do you want?'
'Power,' Harry answered without hesitation, his hands balling into fists around his bedsheets as he remembered the years he had spent trapped within his own body, 'I never want to be that helpless again, I would die rather than be at the mercy of even myself.'
Nyx's presence wrapped around him even tighter, soothing him, 'And you never will. That is our intersection, we both desire control and power. And now we can achieve it, together!'
Before Harry could respond the door to his room burst open and he looked over to see his father standing in the doorway staring at him in shock and awe, "Harry!"
A small smile spread across Harry's lips as he met his father's eyes, "Hey Dad."
Words failed Norman as he rushed across the room and wrapped Harry up in a bear hug. Then after a second Norman pulled away looking Harry over, "A-are you okay, do you feel anything wrong or unusual?"
"No Dad I'm fine," Harry insisted despite his father's insistence, "I feel better than ever actually."
After a second Norman nodded, "T-that's good…very good!"
"So…how long have I been asleep?" Harry asked, looking into his father's eyes.
Norman sighed, "Regrettably it took four years to find a cure for your condition. You're eighteen years old now son…I'm sorry that you missed out on so much."
Harry smiled sadly, "It's fine Dad, at least I'm alive…what was the cure?"
The sudden shift in questioning caught Norman off guard and he blinked, "W-what?"
"You said you found a cure for my condition, what was it?" Harry asked again, his voice innocent.
Norman coughed as he stalled, "I-It was a new drug that bolstered your immune system and your cellular stability. That's why the treatment took so long, we had to test it to make sure it was safe."
Harry nodded, "Well then maybe I should become a pharmaceutical scientist so I can help other people with diseases?"
Norman grinned, "If that's what you want son then you'll have it. And you know you can tell me anything right Harry?"
Even as Norman's gaze intensified Harry remained unbothered nodding in agreement, "Of course Dad, and I'll know you'll always protect me."
Norman stiffend for a moment before smiling, "That's right, because that's what fathers do."
Harry grinned before yawning, "I think I'm going to take a nap now, even after sleeping for four years I'm still pretty tired."
Norman nodded and stepped back, "Right of course, you have a lot to process. I'll let you rest."
Norman then left the room and the moment the door closed shut the fake child like innocence Harry had portrayed vanished without a trace, 'Do you think he bought it?'
'I believe so,' Nyx answered, 'Though I believe sooner rather than later he will suspect something is amiss.'
'Well as long as he doesn't pose a threat or an obstacle my father is more useful to us alive rather than dead,' Harry replied emotionlessly, feeling no attachment or hatred towards his father.
'I truly did choose the best possible host,' Nyx boasted with a laugh, 'If every decision of ours is this pragmatic, conquering this planet should take no time at all.'
Harry smiled, 'Well I'm glad you're so optimistic, but how are we exactly supposed to accomplish world domination? You keep mentioning using my powers but I don't even know what they are.'
'I supposed I've kept you in suspense long enough,' Nyx replied mirthfully, 'To put it simply, your powers allow you to manipulate organic matter at the cellular level, and that is a very crude summarization of your abilities. Even I do not fully understand how your powers function. It seems that you are capable of generating a form of energy that can interact with life itself at a near subatomic level. It borders so far on the edge of what science can explain that it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call it magic.'
