"I'm sorry to meet you this way... but, yes. The intense taste shock and unknown energy seem to have... torn us apart."
Riot let out a sharp sneer, the gray substance violently churning:
"Ha! Good riddance! I was sick of that indecisive glutton! This is much better now!"
Vic White (temporarily called Vic White) and Vic Gray (Vic Gray) raised their hands simultaneously—
One wanted to stroke Serum, the other wanted to restrain Riot.
But their movements stopped halfway at the same time, their faces showing an extremely complex, bizarre expression, as if simultaneously feeling gentle comfort and a splitting headache.
The same consciousness, two completely different symbiotic emotional feedbacks.
Vic White (Serum): "This feeling... is too strange..."
Vic Gray (Riot): "Shut up! Adapt to it!"
They spoke simultaneously, saying different things, but the collapse and bewilderment on their faces were identical.
The restroom fell into an even deadlier, stranger silence.
Wednesday's eyebrow raised an infinitesimal millimeter, the highest degree of expression she used to convey, "Things have become interesting."
Enid stood with her mouth open, her gaze flicking between the two Victors, the white "scarf," and the gray "crown," her brain completely crashing, as if watching a drama that surpassed the comprehension of all fairy tales and nightmares.
Serum seemed to sense the awkward atmosphere and added softly, "Uh... nice to meet everyone?"
Riot immediately let out a loud, disdainful retching sound: "Ptooey!"
Suddenly, the distinct white of Serum and gray of Riot abruptly solidified, flickering violently like a screen with poor reception!
A familiar, viscous shade of black, like thick ink dropped into clear water, quickly spread.
It aggressively covered the pearly white and the dull gray, finally stabilizing into Venom's signature, deep, lightless black.
"Ugh... damn it..." From the neck of the Vic White on the left, Venom's familiar, raspy, granular voice complained. It materialized a small tentacle and rubbed a non-existent temple.
"I feel awful... like I've been covered head-to-toe in a whole barrel of expired, moldy chocolate syrup... sticky, sickeningly sweet, and with a sour smell..."
"Oh! Venom! My brother!"
Both Victors simultaneously broke into brilliant, relieved smiles and cheered in unison.
"You're finally awake!"
The Venom on the left sounded even more distressed:
"Oh, God... shut up! Both of you talking at once... makes me feel even worse!"
"Idiot Victor!"
The Venom on the head of Vic Gray suddenly exploded, its form becoming even more ferocious. It roared, almost spraying spittle onto Victor's face.
"Look what you've done! What did those short, stubby, tempura-like fingers of yours concoct! That lousy potion didn't split me into good and evil sides at all!"
Its tentacles flailed wildly in anger:
"It damn well made me... spawn! Dammit! Now I want to pour the rest of that potion into your skull! It's empty enough to run a carriage through anyway!"
"But I clearly followed the steps written in the book!"
Both Victors simultaneously felt wronged, instinctively defending themselves, their voices overlapping again.
They simultaneously reached out, pointing at the thick book, a thousand magical potions: from beginner to burial, held by Wednesday, their synchronization breathtaking.
Their two hands slapped together in the air with a "smack."
"Alright..."
Both Victors simultaneously shook their hands that had collided, showing expressions of helplessness.
"Controlling two minds, multitasking... it shouldn't be too hard to adapt..."
They closed their eyes, brows furrowed, as if performing intense permission allocation and thread adjustment deep within their consciousness.
A few seconds later, Vic Gray, moving slightly stiffly, stepped forward alone and took the culprit book from Wednesday's hands.
"Hmm, let me see."
Vic Gray quickly flipped to the dog-eared page, his finger tracing the steps.
"Boil water in the pot... slice the beef... centipede legs... crocodile tears... the steps are all correct... huh?"
His voice stopped, and he quickly flipped the recipe page back and forth, a look of extreme confusion on his face.
"Wait... where's the chocolate?"
He suddenly looked up at the Venom on his shoulder.
"Venom! Didn't you say the last step required adding chocolate? But why isn't it in the book...?"
"What? How is that possible?!"
The Venom on Vic Gray's head suddenly leaned closer, extending a tentacle, anxiously flipping the pages back and forth, and then... suddenly froze, falling into complete silence.
The only sounds left in the entire restroom were the slight rustling of pages being turned and an atmosphere called "ominous premonition" rapidly spreading.
Two seconds later, the tentacle began to tremble slightly. It carefully, as if touching a bomb, flipped the page back one more time.
The familiar step of "adding chocolate" appeared on the page.
"...Add chocolate, representing a sweet gift, and stir clockwise until blended..."
"Don't tell me..."
Vic Gray's mouth began to twitch uncontrollably, his voice dry.
"You... flipped one page too many?"
Venom: "..."
Complete, dead silence.
An emotion called "guilt" could be clearly felt even through the symbiote.
Vic Gray, with trembling hands, slowly flipped the page back to the previous one.
At the top of the page, a completely different recipe title came into view—
[Love Potion: Sweet Intentions]
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