And another chapter! This one is divided into two different parts, one in Venom's, and one in the Torch's. Read away!

The Remnant Squad: Chapter 6

Venom's POV

"What do you mean you couldn't get the others?" Venom asked.

It hadn't taken him long to realize that they were leaving Latveria without his teammates, and he wasn't happy about it.

"We had less than a minute to get out of the castle before that… thing arrived." Red Hulk said, perfectly calm. "There was no way we could have got any of your teammates out in time. Sorry, kid."

"You could have stayed and fought!" Venom objected. "What made you think you couldn't have beaten whatever was coming?"

"Did you see what happened to the castle after we left?" Red Hulk asked. "Vision and I wouldn't have had a chance against that. Not alone. Look, I was under pressure, in a bad situation, and I made a decision. If I hadn't made it, you would have had two less Avengers on your side."

"Venom," The Human Torch said, placing a hand oh Venom's shoulder. "The Hulk's got a point. We need as many people on our side as we can get, based on what I just saw. And we don't know if the others are actually dead, or if they've just been captured."

Turning, Venom pushed The Torch's hand off his shoulder, and headed to the back of the Quinjet. "Yeah, sure."

He was kind of disappointed to find that he was not alone in the back. Sitting in the corner, Noh-Varr was fidgeting with the head of the Doombot that the Vision had destroyed. He didn't seem to notice that he had company until Venom cleared his throat.

"Oh, hello," The Protcetor greeted, not turning from the head. "You are Venom, correct?"

"Yeah, that's me." Venom replied. "You think I'm a villain too?"

"Not at all," Noh-Varr answered. "I did serve with another Venom, back when I was a member of Norman Osborn's Avengers, but you do not seem to be the same one." He regarded Venom for a second, then turned back to the head. "You are not, are you?"

"No, that wasn't me," Venom said. "I'm the new guy."

"Good. I have no wish to relive those days in any way." Frowning, he pulled off the face part of the Doombot's head. "I presume you are feeling some degree of loss over the fate of your teammates?"

Great, Venom thought. I'm discussing my feelings with an alien. "Uh, yeah," He said, rubbing the back of his head. "A bit."

"Don't," The Protector instructed. "They are, in all probability, fine. From the evidence I have collected so far, this threat is not killing the Avengers, merely capturing them." He shrugged. "Then again, they could be capturing them and then killing them. Still, it could be worse."

"Really? How so?"

"You could be trapped on a strange planet which you have sworn to protect, with your friends long dead and no understanding of the ways of this planet."

"That would be pretty bad," Venom admitted.

"I'm glad we're agreed," Noh-Varr said. "Now, if I may ask about that symbiote of yours…"

Human Torch's POV

As he watched Venom stomp over to the back of the Quinjet, The Human Torch shook his head sadly. Some people just can't work well with others.

"He is a bit rash, isn't he?"

Turning to face his adresser, The Torch found himself face to face with The Vision, who was regarding him with interest.

"Hello, Vision," The Torch greeted. "Been a while."

"Indeed it has, Jim Hammond," Vision replied. "I believe both of us have died and returned since last we met, correct?"

"I suppose so," Hammond said. "I agree with you about Venom, by the way. It might just be the symbiote, but he's got quite a temper."

"And you?" The Vision asked. "How are you handling the loss of your teammates?"

"I wouldn't call it a loss, exactly. Like I told Venom, we don't know if they're actually dead or not. Speaking of that, do you know where Hawkeye is? He was supposed to join us in Latveria."

"Hawkeye is the only person we know who has survived the attacker. He and Captain America were taken down four hours ago. Captain America is nowhere to be found, but Hawkeye is in the hospital in critical condition. He would have joined you if he could have."

"Wait… This attacker got Cap?" Human Torch asked, suddenly more worried.

"I'm afraid so." Vision answered.

"Who else did they get?"

"As far as we know, Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, Iron Fist, The Thing, Spider-Man, Wolverine, Doctor Strange, Ms. Marvel, Mockingbird, Daredevil, Captain America, Hawkeye, and your team have all been victims of the attacks."

"That many? And we still don't know who it is. Maybe you should call in the reserve members. You do still have those, right?"

"Yes we do," Vision confirmed. "In fact, I was thinking of calling them myself."

"Then do it! We need as much help as we can get!"

"Very well." The Vision tapped his comlink, and began to speak. "Calling all reserves-"

Before he could finish, the Quinjet began to shake violently, knocking the Avengers over. The shaking continued for several minutes, to the point where The Torch thought it would never cease.

Eventually, the shaking did stop, but things weren't any better once they did.

The Quinjet had stopped moving. Before the shaking had began, it was in flight, but now, all motion had ceased. Which meant they weren't falling either.

"What the…?" Red Hulk said, standing up slowly.

"Let's find out," The Human Torch replied, opening the door and poking his head out.

He was greeted with the sight of the strangest thing he had ever seen. The Quinjet was parked on a giant chessboard. As in, a chessboard the size of a small city. But of course, that wasn't all that awaited the Avengers.

The chessboard was occupied by two giant men, both of which were very unusual. The one to The Torch's left had blue skin, for starters. He towered above them at a height of at least ten stories, with white hair and yellow robes. An amused smile graced his face as he observed the shocked Torch.

The man on the right, on the other hand, looked much less impressive. He gave off the appearance of a strangley-dressed old man, albeit an incredibly large one, with his wrinkled, caucasian skin and hair as white as the other man's. His strange robes, which were brown and red, fluttered around in the wind, which was quite strong. Together, the two men made quite a sight.

"Hello, Avengers," The blue-skinned man boomed. "I am the Grandmaster, and my colleague is known as the Collector. We have a game for you to play. If I were you, I wouldn't object."

Cliffhanger ending! Yes, I know, I'm evil. Please review!