Chapter 21:

Everything Breaks

The titanic adamantium door still held strong, rejecting all attempts by Mire and his cyborg lackeys to penetrate into the bridge. Abel White's minions may have dominated the rest of the helicarrier, but the bridge could control everything; the engines, the sentry cannons, and everything else. While it was more difficult to operate the helicarrier solely from the bridge, it was occasionally necessary.

Colonel Josiah Brooks tightly clutched his hand cannons, constantly tense. The cyborgs were still out there, and there seemed to be no way to eject them. They'd have to wait for the US military to react… They'd be waiting awhile.

—MEANWHILE—

Mire's communicator began to beep. Abel White's deep, rough voice echoed metallically through the miniature radio. "Mire, have you yet breached the bridge?"

"No, Mr. White. It's adamantium…"

White sighed. "You incompetent! You can't even open a door? That'll go down in the annals of history, my friend." Within his office, the silver-haired man shook his head. "Look, get to the radio room, and set it to this frequency. I'll take care of the rest…"

Mire shrugged. "Uh, sure, whatever you say, Mr. White. If you don't mind my asking, though, how will us securing the radio room and sending you a transmission help our cause?"

White grinned, his expression purely sinister. "It's not what you'll be transmitting; it's what I'll be transmitting."

—SCENEBREAK—

Venom and Spider-Girl made their way over to where Fabian and Gerry were recuperating. Gerry Drew, aka Spidercide, was lying on the ground, limbs splayed about like a starfish, occasionally clutching his ribs and groaning. Fabian LaMeurto sat with his legs folded beneath him, breathing heavily. He'd taken quite a beating from Maundora, whose corpse lay several yards away. The shaft of steel protruded from his back like a flagpole.

The Black Tarantula looked up. "Ah, you must be Venom. I don't think I've had the pleasure of meeting you." He extended a hand.

Venom shook the offered hand. "You haven't. I'd say it's nice to meet you, but please don't take too much offense if I don't say as such. I make it a policy not to freely associate with crime lords, no matter how honorable they paint themselves."

LaMuerto nodded. "Of course. I wouldn't expect anything less from the Lethal Protector," he sneered.

The two growled, staring each other down. Spider-Girl interposed herself between the two. "Now, now, children. Play nice. If we're going to work together, we have to learn to accept one another's differences."

Venom shrugged. "I'm just not comfortable associating with a crime lord. I know he's saved your bacon a few times, but this is a personal hangup." He looked back down at Fabian. "However, I'm not an idiot. The enemy of my enemy is my ally, and I'll be happy to have your aid in bringing down whoever sent Carnage after us."

May sighed. "It'll have to do, I suppose…"

Gerry groaned. "Yeah, warm fuzzies all around. Now then, what do we do about the nutjob who let loose Huggy Bear over there," he gestured to Maundora's corpse.

"You're supposed to be the strategic genius," Spider-Girl said to Venom, "so start strategizing!"

Venom tapped a claw against his chin. "Well, we already know that this unseen, maleficent benefactor has quite the arsenal at his disposal. If his objective was to kill us, he'd likely have sent a veritable army of cyborgs and dissidents to help slaughter us." He leaned against an overturned car. "In other words, this was just a distraction. A way to keep the superheroes occupied while our enemy does something more vicious."

"And what exactly would that be?" asked the Black Tarantula.

Venom shrugged. "Dunno. Perhaps we should take a photo of Laughing Boy there, and Google his mug. That could tell us something about his employer's plans."

—MEANWHILE—

Although his rational mind vehemently protested the success of such a venture. Mire was a loyal man, one who followed orders. More specifically, he followed reliable orders, and Abel White had not once given him reason to doubt the man's competence.

Therefore, at this exact moment, Mire was tuning the helicarrier's radio to Abel White's personal frequency. Static crackled through the receiver, and suddenly a veritable lightning storm erupted from the console. Mire leapt back just in time to avoid being lanced through the abdomen by a white-blue bolt.

The blinding ballet of deadly sparks died down, and Abel White stood in the room, smirking like one prescient of the coming events. His eyes gleamed from behind his pitch-black sunglasses. "Thank you, Mire. Now then, show me to that door."

—AUTHOR'S NOTE—

College is going well, but it's still a bit of a hassle. Classes and study eat up a good deal of my time, but this story is not dead by any means! You hear me? Venom, Spider-Girl, Cori, and Abel White will all live to fight another day!

Thanks for all the reviews, and keep them coming! They help me to know what works and what doesn't.

And, yes, this was a bit of a rush job. Only 2½ pages in total, but it's better than none, right?

Anyway, thank you for your loyal readership, and keep a weather eye on the horizon. More will be coming. To quote one of my favorite quotes (the original coiner of this phrase escapes me – special mention to anybody who can tell me): Once more into the breach, dear friends.

—Vherstinae