Chapter 25
Korra sat in the lobby of the Avengers Tower, rapidly tapping her heal. Her frustration reached it's limit and she bolted upright and marched into the hangar. As soon as she opened the door, Supergirl flew in and landed.
"Where are the Avengers?" she asked.
"They all left for the Baxter building." Korra answered. "Something went wrong and the Fantastic Four sent out a distress signal. They told me to wait here, but it's been over twenty minutes and I haven't heard anything from them. Hey, where's that package Mysterio wanted you to get?"
"I don't know." Supergirl said, "I looked all over Long Beach, but I couldn't find the house in the picture. I think we might have been played."
"Argh, that dome headed loser!" Korra said. "Let's get back to the subway and take that idiot down!"
Both of the girls phones rang at the same time. Carrying both in her pockets, Korra took them out to see that they both read 'Avengers Priority Alert'.
"What does that mean?" Korra asked.
"I don't know." Supergirl said, "But I think we should ask them."
Sue Storm, the Invisible Woman entered the hangar, standing on one of her psionic energy platforms. A few moments later Wolverine entered on another psionic platform, but hunched over and bleeding out of his chest.
Supergirl and Korra rushed over.
Wolverine scowled at them and drew his claws. "What did you two do to the Web Head?" he snarled.
"Wh-what?" Supergirl stammered.
"What happened to Spider-man?" Sue Storm asked in a tone that, while calmer than Logan's, still expressed a degree of panic. "Why did he attack us?"
"He did what?!" Korra exclaimed.
Invisible Woman and Wolverine exchanged looks.
"Avatar, you said Mysterio had Webs locked up in the subway, right?" Wolverine asked.
"Yeah, like I tried to explain before you all left," Korra said, "He was holding him hostage and told us to go miles away to get something that we don't think actually existed."
"I don't understand how Mysterio could have done this." Sue said, "He was in another dimension."
"So were these girls till a few months ago." Wolverine said, "To me it's all starting to add up."
"I don't know..."
"Okay, hold on." Korra said. "So many questions need answered right now. Where are the other Avengers?"
"Webs took em' out." Wolverine said.
"What?!" the girls exclaimed.
"H-how?" Supergirl asked, "Why?"
"For most people, the Baxter building is the most heavily guarded building on the planet. Spider-man is one of the few people, other than those that live and work inside the building, that have access to it." Sue said, "As such, it's the ideal place for a lot of weapons that we'd rather not see in the wrong hands."
"Weapons that can take down Captain Marvel and Iron Man in a single hit." Wolverine said.
"How did you two make it out?"
"He could blast me to pieces, but he couldn't keep me down forever." Wolverine said.
"And I was able to avoid detection buy turning invisible." Sue said, "I grabbed Logan and escaped when I realized the fight wasn't going to go our way."
"But I still don't understand why." Korra said, "Why would he just attack you? You're good guys! You're on the same side."
"His judgment may have been impaired." Sue said, "He was wearing a-"
An alarm blared and an orange light flashed over head.
"Warning." Jarvis said, "Break detected. Uncontained Symbiote in the Tower."
"Speak of the devil." Wolverine said. He dashed out of the hangar and down the stairs, but was quickly passed by Supergirl.
In the sub levels of the tower, a black figure slunk along the ceiling. Supergirl burst into the hallway, her eyes locked onto the only heart beat. With a flash of red, she blasted the intruder with heat vision.
Venom yowled as he rolled down the hall. Before he could get his bearings, Supergirl was on him and slammed the black monstrosity into the wall. "What did you do to him?!"
"We are not your enemy!" Venom hissed.
Supergirl threw him into the far wall and blasted him with another round of heat vision. Before either of them could make another move, Venom was encased in a psionic bubble.
"Well, well, guess it's just a regular symbiote shindig." Wolverine said, "Any more of you alien globs we should know about?"
"Let us out!" Venom roared, "We have to destroy it! We have to destroy our spawn!"
"More?" Supergirl repeated. "Spawn?"
"Yes, it's Spider-man." Sue said, "He was wearing a symbiote, but unlike Venom this one was red."
"NO!" Venom shrieked, "Parker was wearing it?! Let us out! We need to destroy it!"
Korra stormed past every one and glowered into the bubble. "What is going on here?!"
"Our other, our spawn." Venom said, "It's being controlled. They want it to cause untold carnage!"
"And Peter is wearing this new symbiote?"
"Yes." said Wolverine.
"And he used it to help him attack the Baxter building?"
"Yes." said Sue.
"Wait, who are 'they'?" Supergirl asked, "Who's controlling the new symbiote?"
The metal door a few feet away from them opened and a red figure with black veins stood watching them with white eyes like the lenses in Spider-man's mask. It's fingers were long like daggers, tendrils whipped back and for randomly off the thing's body, some of them wrapped around a large machine with two human sized pods on either side of it.
The monster crouched down and the tendrils retracted from the machine on it back. "Oooh, a party."
"Peter?" Korra said in fear and disbelief. She could barely make out his voice under the symbiote's garbled interference.
"That's my name, don't wear it out." Peter said.
Wolverine roared and charged with his claws drawn. Korra wanted to stop his as he ran past, but was too stunned to see her friend in the red symbiote. Spider-man extended his right arm a dozen feet, then slapped Wolverine aside.
The symbiote leaped after Korra, who snapped herself out of it and shot a blast of air at him. Tendrils latched to the floor and pulled Spider-man under the blast, then shot out and took her feet out from under her. Supergirl fired her heat vision, but the symbiote parted and the blast struck Peter directly in the chest.
"Gah!" He yelped in his normal voice.
"Oh, Rao no!" Supergirl rushed up to him as he clutched as his chest. "Peter, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to-"
The symbiote shot out it's web goo and enveloped her, then with one arm pushed her into the wall and with the other arm, ripped part of the opposite wall and slammed it against her, then used more goo to stick the wall in place.
Sue Storm tried to encase him in a psionic ball, put he jumped above it then pulled something out of his symbiote suit. "Present for you!"
Sue's eyes widened in fear at the glowing blue sphere. Before it could activate and shut down her brainwaves, she retreated and pulled the trapped Venom back with her.
Back on her feet, Korra shot a blaze of fire at the symbiote's back, but he flipped and landed behind her. She spun around, and Peter grabbed her by the throat and lifted her off the ground.
"P-Pete, you beat this thing once." she said, "You can beat it again."
"No, I didn't beat this one." Peter's voice came through the symbiote again, "This one is stronger...faster...more powerful. I was wrong to get rid of the power the last time, and I won't do it again." he shoved her against the wall and goo from the symbiote began to encase her. "Don't be scared. I'm not going to hurt you. Soon, nothing will ever hurt you or Kara ever again." He jumped over to the device in the doorway, picked it up with one arm, then ran out of the building.
With a small bit of fire, Korra began to burn the symbiote away. A moment later, the metal wall that was pinning Supergirl burst open as she frantically ripped the symbiote goo away from her.
"Gah, this is disgusting!" she said. "Where'd he go?"
"I don't know, but he's not here." Korra said, burning the rest of the symbiote away.
Wolverine pushed himself up and walked over to them. "You two alright? Where's Sue?"
"I'm right here." the Invisible Woman appeared in front of them. "He had a device that could shut me down. I had to back up or risk releasing this other symbiote."
"We are not your enemy!" Venom shouted.
"What the heck was that thing he took?" Wolverine asked as they all moved towards the exit.
"I don't know." Sue said, "Jarvis, can you identify that machine?"
"Of course." said a voice from above, "That was the Power Transferal device. Originally crafted by Count Nefaria and Dr. Kenneth Sturdy. Modified by Tony Stark and Reed Richards."
"What? I didn't know my husband was working with Tony on something that could steal powers." Sue said.
"I recognize the name." Wolverine said, "They thought they could use it to cure the Hulk and the Thing. Pretty sure it's effects are only temporary though."
"But why would Peter want it?" Supergirl asked.
"Power." Korra said, "He was saying something about how he never should have gotten ride of the power of the Venom symbiote. And do you remember what he said when he told us about Gwen? He said he didn't have the strength to keep the people he cares about safe."
"ARGH! That over protective idiot!" Supergirl yelled.
Wolverine chuckled. "Of all the reasons Webs coulda snapped over the years, he only loses it when he tries to protect his girlfriends."
"We are not his girlfriends!" Korra said, "And he hasn't snapped. This has got to be mind control, like Thor and Iron Man."
"I agree." Sue said, "First thing's first, we need to get that symbiote off him."
"But...the symbiote retracted and I accidentally hit Peter." Supergirl said, "I don't want to hurt him."
"We're gonna have to if we want to take him down." Wolverine said.
"I'll stay here and piece something together." Sue said, "Jarvis, do you have the designs on the sonic emitter we used on Venom?"
"Of course, I'll bring them up for you." the artificial voice said.
"Good, then you four go and slow him down."
"Four?" Wolverine repeated, "You ain't thinking of lettin' Venom out are ya?"
"I am." Sue said, "I'll be putting together something to take him down anyway. And besides, he'll have two girls with him that can burn his symbiote away. And I'm assuming they'll be less concerned about hurting mister Brock here, than Peter."
"Considerably." said Korra, cracking her knuckles for an extra show of force.
"Alright then." The bubble around Venom released, "Go and slow him down and get that device back. I'll be with you as soon as I can."
"Got it." Supergirl said, "Follow me, I can hear him in the subway." she flew ahead and led the way.
Kara flew into the subway tunnel outside as people screamed and ran past. A train started moving, taking off at a speed much faster than it should have. Supergirl scanned the cars, but Spider-man wasn't on any of them.
She heard his heartbeat just a moment too late as some kind of rope wrapped itself around her. Pulling against it, she found the rope difficult to break.
"What the-?"
"Ah ah ah, a magician never reveals his tricks." Peter said through the symbiote. He crawled along the ceiling towards her. "I just need you to stay still for a bit."
The ceiling around him cracked and the symbiote jumped away as Korra brought it crashing down. He hissed as Wolverine lunged and knocked them onto the tracks. Venom followed and a brawl broke out.
Korra rushed over to Supergirl, as she flexed and broke the rope. "Magic. Hard for me to break, but not impossible. Who knows how many more weapons he's hiding under that goo suit?"
"So what do we do?" Korra asked, "Do you think he'll listen to us?"
"I don't think so. Not with that symbiote on."
Venom was thrown into the far wall. Spider-man pinned his arms and stared him in the face. "Your little spider-sense canceling trick isn't going to help you this time! I've got my own symbiote now, and it's putting my reflexes into over drive!" Wolverine jumped at Spider-man's back, but he whipped Venom around and smacked the mutant with him, sending them tumbling down the tracks. "Well someone wasn't listening."
"Ah, he was hard to hit before!" Korra said.
"I know, but if we can just keep him on his toes, hopefully we can keep him here long enough for Sue to make that sonic thing." Supergirl said. She fired a blast of heat vision at his knees, and when he jumped Korra shot fire towards him.
They let loose a volley of attacks, but the symbiote dodged past each one as it worked it's way towards them. It jumped up, then landed in between them, grabbing both around the torso with huge symbiote hands.
"You two need to-"
Supergirl ripped apart the goo around her and grabbed Spider-man from around the neck from behind. "Now we're just going to hold still until Sue gets here!"
"I don't think so." Spider-man said. He jumped up and slammed her into the ceiling. They came crashing back down in a heap of debris, then the symbiote jumped into the wall, then into a concrete support column, scattering broken pieces all over.
Supergirl released him and held the back of her head. "Ow...hits harder than I thought."
Korra whipped up a large circling wind that picked the symbiote up off the ground. "Just hold still Spidey."
A tendril shot out of the whirlwind and landed next to her. Spider-man pulled himself out of the cyclone, landed right beside her and grabbed her heel. He then stood, holding her up by her ankle. Korra blasted his legs with fire and the symbiote roared in pain and threw her into Supergirl
"Ah! Didn't think he would hurt either of us." Korra said.
The symbiote roared at them in a high pitch. It's body seemed to have grown and sharp white teeth were forming in a mouth opening.
"What the-?"
Wolverine and Venom jumped at Spider-man, slamming him into the wall behind him. Grabbing each around the throat, the red symbiote slammed the two attackers together. Wolverine slashed at the goo, trying not to cut deep enough to hurt Peter. His response was to slam the X-man into the ground.
Venom dug his hands into the red symbiote's face, forcing some of his suit down it's throat. "Don't give them what they want Parker!" Venom yelled, "Don't become their tool for carnage and destruction!"
"SHUT UP!" the voice coming out of Spider-man was completely not his own. He threw Venom to the opposite wall and kicked Wolverine after him.
Korra and Supergirl took position a few feet away from him. The symbiote grew even larger, it's right hand taking the shape of an ax, and it's left hand with fingers sharpened to claws. Spikes the same color as it's teeth, began to grow along it's spine.
"W-what's happening to him?" Korra asked.
"He's flamin' losing it!" Wolverine yelled as he ran up next to them.
"Parker has given in to the symbiote. " Venom said, also joining them. Spider-man stared them down. "Our spawn was torn from us prematurely. It doesn't have our will to survive, only our fury."
"No, Spidey is still in there." Supergirl said, "He's just being controlled by two different sources. We need to-"
The symbiote shot a blast of goo at every one of them, then sprinted up the stairs to the surface.
"We gotta take him down!" Wolverine sliced his way out of the goo.
"Don't hurt him!" Korra exclaimed as she burned her way our while the two others ripped free.
"We'll get him back, but I can't promise he'll be in one piece." Wolverine said as they sprinted up the stairs.
There was a huge crash, metal breaking and glass shattering. The berserk symbiote stood on top of an overturned bus as people screamed and yelled as they tried to escape. Venom and Wolverine jumped right into the fray, but Korra turned to her friend.
"Supergirl, we need you to end this!" she said.
"But...I"
"Just knock him out, or grab him and melt the symbiote off of him." Korra said.
"No! I..." Supergirl fists and shoulders tightened up as she struggled with herself, "I don't want to hurt him. The symbiote moved the last time I used my heat vision on it and I hit Peter. I don't know how hard I can hit him in that suit, and I...I'm afraid I might kill him if I don't hold back enough. Look out!" Supergirl pushed Korra back as she caught a taxi out of the air.
"You two mind helping out!" Wolverine yelled, "People are going to get hurt if we don't end this now!"
Korra jumped to her feet and sent a blast of fire at Spider-man. He dodged it easily, but Wolverine and Venom closed in and landed punches and slashes. The symbiote yelled in pain, then grabbed the two assailants and threw them into the bus.
Korra bent every broken piece of concrete and metal around her and pelted the symbiote from all angles. It made almost no effort to dodge as it lunged towards the Avatar. She jumped and boosted up farther with air bending while Supergirl closed in from the side and punched him down the street.
"He's not fighting like himself!" Korra announced, "He's not controlling himself."
"This isn't exactly news to us!" Wolverine yelled back. "That suit is going to go on a rampage until we shut it down."
Four cars were thrown into the sky and came down towards them. Supergirl flew into the air and caught two, Korra whipped up a whirlwind to slow the descent of another. Venom caught the last car, casually tossing it aside as soon as he did so.
Spider-man jumped into the air towards Supergirl. With her hands full, her next thought was to use her heat vision, but she was once again scared to hurt her friend. The symbiote's fist smashed into her skull and sent the Girl of Steel bouncing down the street. Before Wolverine could even attack, he was grabbed by a tendril and thrown a city block away. Venom slammed his shoulder into Spider-man's gut, lifted him up and slammed him down into the street. He landed two tremendous punches before Spider-man dug his symbiote claws into his face and tore away at the Venom suit.
Eddie Brock yelled in pain and covered his exposed face. Spider-man kicked him into a window five stories above.
Korra blasted the red symbiote with fire. "Spidey! I need you to listen to me." she said, "That thing is controlling you! I know you don't want to-" she flipped to the side as the symbiote threw a manhole cover at her. "Stop this!" she yelled. The symbiote lunged at her, but she used air bending to get out of reach. It stayed right with her, grabbing her around the waist with a huge hand, and slamming into the building. "Pete..." she gasped, "please...stop..."
The symbiote opened it's massive mouth and moved in to take a bit out of Korra's head. A red and blue streak crashed into it's side. Supergirl grabbed Korra under the arms and set her down on the street.
"Did we just loose our teammates?" Supergirl asked.
"For a little bit at least...we're on our own." Korra said.
"Wait, actually I hear backup right around the corner." Supergirl said, "We just need to distract him for a bit longer."
With another load roar, the symbiote tore a car in half and faced the girls.
"I don't think getting his attention is going to be a problem." Korra said.
One after the other, the symbiote threw the halves of the car at them. They dodged them easy enough, and as Spider-man charged, they both blew a gale of wind in his face to slow him down, Supergirl with her super breath and Korra with her Air bending. As the symbiote made to jump out of their wind current, they both abruptly stopped, causing it to jump a hundred feet past them.
Another roar and charge, this time with both arms in the shape of axes. They stepped aside as Sue Storm aimed the Sonic Emitter. Supergirl covered her ears as the device blasted weaponized sound at the symbiote, stopping it dead. Roaring and snarling, the symbiote clawed it's way towards them with pieces of the suit falling away from the main body and turning into a nearly liquid substance.
"NO!" Spider-man burst out of the symbiote and sprinted towards them. "I NEED IT!" He grabbed the sonic emitter and smashed it into the ground. "I NEED THE POWER!"
Shocked at seeing the hero acting like a madman, even without the symbiote, the three women did nothing as the red suit engulfed Spider-man once more. Sue Storm raised a force field as he punched, sending her psionic bubble crashing into vehicles down the street.
"Pete!" Korra wrapped her arms around the symbiote and held it tightly. "Stop this! I know you don't want to hurt us, but your being forced to! Fight it! Please! You can beat it!"
The symbiote roared and looked to be flexing, but made no attempt to grab her.
Supergirl embraced Spider-man from behind. "We're your friends! We don't want to hurt you!" she said, "Just calm down for us, please." Slowly she began to heat up her body and emitted a yellow-orange glow. Korra too began to burn the symbiote with a small fire in her hands.
Limbs in the shape of axes, the symbiote roared and grunted, then started to jerk in every direction. Still, he made no attempts to grab them off him. Slowly, tendrils began to seep out of the symbiote and moved onto the girls. To Supergirl they were burnt off immediately, but to Korra they began to harden like small blades and cut her exposed face and arms.
The symbiote let out one final roar before it's voice turned into Peter's. The suit melted away from him, but the girls held tight, making sure to burn away every little bit.
"I...I need power...to keep you safe." Spidey said, sounding completely drained.
Korra looked into his left eye, a blow he had sustained apparently knocked out the lens in his mask. "I was afraid you'd say that."
Supergirl gave him a quick tap on the back of the head and the wall crawler fell over.
"Well...think I see why he waned us to incinerate Venom the first time we saw him." Korra said.
"Yeah, I-the machine!" Supergirl exclaimed, "Where did he put the machine?!"
"The subway!" Korra said, "It left just as we showed up. You go, I'll take care of Spidey."
Supergirl flew back down into the subway while Korra crouched down and flipped over the Web Head.
"Mmmh...dij' you gus beat...Mystery-O?" Spider-man mumbled.
"I, uh, not sure there ever was a Mysterio." Korra said, "Spidey, you...were sorta mind controlled."
His visible eye flashed open and he quickly tried to sit up, only to flop back down. "Ow...feels like you guys took care of it."
"Yeah, it wasn't easy. You were wearing a symbiote." Korra said.
"I-oh yeah..." Spider-man said, "Where did I get a-oh my god!" he pushed through the pain and sat up this time. "Are you okay?" he gingerly reached out and touched her bleeding cheek. "Did I hurt you? I'm so sorry, I-we should get you too a hospital."
"Me?" Korra said, "You're the one who got punched up and down the street. And you've probably got third degree burns on your back."
"So that's what that smell is." Spider-man said. Korra gently pulled his hand away.
Supergirl flew out of the subway and landed beside them. "I can't find it. The subways was stopped in the middle of the tunnel with no on on it. The machine is gone."
"What machine?" Spidey asked.
"Spider-man." Sue Storm said, walking up to them and crouching down. "You stole a Power Transferal device. Do you know who for? What do you remember?"
"I..." he stared off in thought. "I remember running into a room and getting zapped. Then I'm jumping on the Thing's back and going crazy. I...oh... please don't tell me I didn't really kick Captain America in the groin."
"I'm afraid you did." Sue said.
"Oh, I am sooo going to get kicked out of the fan club for that."
Hope this chapter was long enough and sufficiently action packed for you guys, but if not, feel free to leave a review and let me know. I'm always looking for ways to improve.