Battery Park

Venom shot out a web line to keep himself from splattering into the street below. He couldn't believe he had let the pirate take him like that. That had just been to shameful. As his web line connected to a building and he brought himself up out of his fall he heard a scream and looked over his shoulder to see Betty Brant being flung out of the hole he had originally crawled into.

That woman is never going to learn is she? Venom's other said.

"No probably not," he replied. Shooting out a new web line he swung his way over toward Betty and grabbed her several feet above the ground. It took her a moment to register that she had been saved and to stop screaming. Venom continued his swing upwards and landed on the roof of a building near the one they had just been thrown out of. Seeing a door to a stairwell with a padlock on it, he walked over and ripped the lock and door off all at once.

Turning back to Betty he crossed his arms. "Think you can try to stay out of trouble this time Ms. Brant?" he asked.

"I'll try my best," she said as she walked through the door. Before heading down the stairwell, she turned back to Venom. "Do me a favor and knock that creature into another universe."

"I plan to," he said and turned around heading to the edge of the roof. Looking over the edge he saw the pirate climbing out of the hole and begin to look around. He was unsure of whether the pirate was looking for him or something else to destroy, but he was certain that he needed to take care of the creature once and for all.

Before he could jump off the roof and attack the pirate, a crackling came from the earpiece Samus had given him before they were separated. Samus's voice came over the com-link.

"Venom, any luck defeating that pirate?" she asked.

"Not really, no," he replied. "How's it going with blowing up that ship."

"Having a bit of difficulty at the moment, but I may know a way you can put that pirate down once and for all."

"I'm all ears."

"Ridley said he sent a Phazon Elite Pirate. Do you see the globs of Phazon on its shoulders and knees?"

"If you are referring to the blue globs then yes I do."

"The last time I fought one of those creatures I had to divert a lot of energy into those packs of Phazon. Try to find some sort of energy you can use to overload its system. That will cause the pirate to essentially burn up from the inside."

Spotting some power lines running beside the park Venom said, "Got it. I have a plan. Thanks!"

"No problem," Samus replied and then the transmission was cut off.

Jumping for the rooftop he swung over to the power lines and landed on one of the three lines. Venom could feel the power coursing through the lines and knew that if he was going to make this work he was going to have to time it just right.

"Hey Ugly," he called out to the pirate who had finally managed to crawl out of the building and get back down to the ground. The pirate looked up at him and roared.

Jumping to one of the poles holding the power lines up, Venom grabbed hold of one of the wire and pulled as hard as he could. Once the wire was loosened enough he would have to jump back to one of its companions without touching the exposed end. If he did not time this perfectly, he would be electrocuted. Even his symbiote could not save him from that.

As the wire began to pull loose, Venom repositioned himself to get ready to jump. Once the wire was properly loosened he jumped pulling it with all his might. The wire ripped loose and Venom landed on the middle of the three power lines holding the now exposed end of the torn wire above his head.

Looking down at the pirate he yelled, "Hey Ugly, time to die."

The pirate roared and raised its hands. It looked like it was preparing to jump toward Venom, but before it could Venom jumped off the electrical wires toward the pirate. As he descended toward the pirate he aimed the exposed end of the power line at the Phazon pocket on the pirate's right shoulder. He landed on the pirates arm and rammed the wire into the Phazon pocket. Letting go of the wire, he did a back flip off the pirate's arm and leaped to the ground several feet away.

He watched as the Phazon Elite Pirate shook as the electricity from the city coursed through it. The transformer attached to the electrical wires blew and several lights in offices surrounding the park sparked and went out. The pirate stopped seizing and fell to the ground, smoke rolling from the Phazon pockets on its shoulders and knees and from its eyeballs.

He walked over to the pirate and kicked its leg. It did not move and Venom was convinced that the pirate was dead. Now to deal with Carnage, Venom's other said to him.

"Yes," Venom agreed, but before he could take a step toward the location he last saw Carnage several pirates dropped from buildings and trees to surround him. These must have been the rest of the pirates that had tried to attack him while he was fighting the elite pirate. They had come back to finish the job their comrade had failed to complete.

"Bring it on!" Venom exclaimed as all the pirates jumped him at once. A gleeful smile spread across Venom's face as he was buried by a horde of Space Pirates.

Command Center of Ridley's Ship

Samus shot another charged power beam at Ridley and watched as yet again it bounced off his metal body. She changed to her ice beam and repeated the shot with the same effect. Whatever Ridley's body was made of this time, it was clearly designed to repel her weapons. She jumped out of the way as he swiped a claw at her. This was how it had been going since Spider-Man jumped out of the ship. Shoot a beam or two, watch it bounce off his metal body, then jump or dive to miss getting thrashed by either his claws or tail.

Samus needed a new plan and she needed one quick. She wasn't sure how much longer she could continue at the pace she was going. Already Ridley had nicked her a couple times and knocked her energy levels down a full tank and a half. The pirate leader swished his tail at Samus once more and she jumped over it doing a backflip to land on a pile of crates behind her. Bringing up her cannon she charged a power beam shot and aimed it straight at Ridley's right eye. She took the shot and watched in dismay as he brought up his hand and deflected the bolt.

She needed to figure out how to defeat him. Where was she going to find a weak spot that Ridley would have trouble defending? Thinking back to her encounter with the pirate leader during her first exploration of Tallon IV she remembered one of the ways she had managed to expose Ridley's chest where is power cell usually resided. She had shot him in the mouth. Looking at Ridley's chest she saw it was covered by a metal plate. On Tallon IV that metal plate had not been there.

Switching to her scan visor she once again ducked to avoid a claw swipe. When she came back up she focused on the metal plate in the center of Ridley's chest. As her visor scanned the object, it displayed information on her HUD:

RIDLEY POWER SOURCE BEHIND METAL PLATE

METAL PLATE INFUSED WITH CORODITE MATERIALS

Corodite? Samus thought to herself. That is the material my super missiles are designed to destroy. An idea began to form as Samus jumped to the set of crates she had dropped on the unsuspecting Plasma Beam Pirates not long ago. Holding her cannon behind her back she began to charge of a power beam shot.

"Hey Ridley," she shouted up at him, "what do you plan to due after you have invaded this world. Your kind doesn't exist in this universe. In our universe you'll still be seen as the cowards you are. The species the humans defeated. You will never know the honor you wish to have."

Ridley turned to face her. "How dare you speak to me, the leader of the Space Pirates, like that?" He let out a loud roar and Samus took her shot. The charged power beam flew into Ridley's mouth. He began coughing and brought his hands up to his throat. Samus charged another power beam shot and pressed the button to activate her super missiles. Locking on to Ridley's chest, she released the button and let loose a super missile that flew directly toward his chest. The missile impacted with the metal plate covering his chest and blew it off reveling the red, glowing power source behind it.

Ridley grasped at his chest and glared down at Samus. "It seems you have found my weak spot Hunter," he coughed out. "Make no mistake you will not defeat me again." With renewed strength, Ridley stood back up. Flexing his massive wings he swooped up in the area. His tail, which was usually fluid, locked up into a long, steel, pointy spear. He aimed it at Samus and began swooping down at her, attempting to impale her.

Samus dove out of the way and activated her com-link. "Adam, I need you to take control of the ship and lock on to my position. When you have done that you need to start firing on that position."

"My Lady, you can't be serious. You could be killed if I do that," he replied.

"I'll be fine. I just need you to cause a distraction for me. Trust me."

"Okay," Adam hesitantly agreed. "Hang there a couple more minutes while I get the ship in position."

"I will," she responded as she shut down the com-link and dove, completing a tuck and roll to the other side of the ship. She stood up and turned to face Ridley who was slow at turning around. The cramped space of the command center was no place to properly fly around.

While he turned around, Samus continued to pelt him with beam shots hoping that one would hit a mark and take him down. To her dismay nothing worked and when he finally got turned around his hands were clutching his chest, making it impossible for her to lock onto his power source and fire.

"You are trapped Hunter and it is only a matter of time before your energy dwindles. You are still flesh and blood whereas I am metal. I will never falter. I will never get sleepy. And I will destroy you." He reached out to grab Samus with one hand at the exact time the command center shook. Ridley was caught off guard and tumbled to the side. He slumped against the side of the ship.

Samus managed to steady herself and ran towards Ridley hoping to take advantage of his sudden distraction. As she climbed up his leg she saw that his power source was free and exposed. She raised her cannon and switching to her plasma beam she prepared to fire.

Suddenly, a hand swooped out of nowhere and grabbed Samus pinning her arms at her side. Ridley cackled as he picked himself up. Grasping Samus with both hands he began so squeeze. Samus could feel the pressure of his grasp as he slowly tightened his grip around her. Her suit's alarms started to sound as her energy dwindled. At the rate her energy was dropping she'd be a Samus pancake in under a minute.

Wiggling her arm cannon back and forth she managed to squeeze it between Ridley's claws. Trying to lock on to his power source she discovered her targeting function was malfunctioning. Without her targeting function she would have to pray she was aiming in the right direction. Powering up her plasma beam, she aimed where she believed the power source was located on his chest and fired. She was rewarded with Ridley making a sickly coughing sound and his grasp on her loosened.

Dropping from Ridley's claws she watched as the pirate leader leaned against the side of the ship and slumped to the ground. She walked up his leg and stood on his chest peering into his eyes. He tried to make a sound, but all that came out of his mouth was a gasp.

"You will never win, Ridley," she said to him as he lay dying. "The pirates will never regain the honor they once had. Your species is weak and one day I will wipe you all from the face of the universe."

She charged up her plasma beam and fired one more shot into his power source. Ridley took one last breath and slumped further down as a death rattle escaped his lips. Samus watched as the bright light in his eyes faded away. She them climbed down off his body and made her way to the computer consoles. She slaved the ship's controls to those of her suit and set the self-destruct sequence for one minute.

Walking back to the hole she had blown open for Spider-Man, she opened her com-link and said, "Adam I have set the self destruct. Lock on to my position and pick me up. You will be doing a fly-by pick up."

"Understood, My Lady," Adam replied.

Samus hit the control and started the self-destruct sequence. The computer rang out over the intercom, "The ship will self destruct in t-minus sixty second." Samus armed a super missile and shot it at the computer, ensuring no one would be able to stop the self-destruct. She then jumped out of the ship and fell to the water below, watching as her ship descended to pick her up.

Broadway Street

Thank god Mary Jane got away, Spider-Man thought. His wife had escaped into a close building several minutes ago and for that he was most thankful. Unfortunately, he had been unable to escape from Carnage's grasp. Every time he tried to push himself up, Carnage would just shove him back into the ground. He watched helplessly as Doppelgänger freed Shriek and began once again murdering innocent people who had not been able to escape the streets when the Space Pirate attack began.

"Watch, you pathetic bug, as everything you cherish is destroyed around you." Carnage forced him to watch the destruction taking place around him. "I will only kill you when everything you care for is destroyed around you and you have realized you could have stopped it...if only you had killed me when we first met long ago"

Spider-Man decided right then and there that Carnage would not get way with this. Gathering up his strength for one more push, Spider-Man yelled out as he shoved himself off the ground and several feet into the air. Carnage was so surprised by the move that he fell off Spider-Man's back and the tendrils gripping him also released. Carnage flailed to the ground and slammed into the street as Spider-Man landed gracefully beside him.

"For the thousandth time Kasady, spiders aren't insects, they aren't bugs, they are arachnids." Spraying down several feet of webbing over Carnage he continued, "Now be a good little serial killer and stay here while I deal with your family."

Spider-Man bounded down the street toward Shriek who was releasing one hypersonic screech after another at pedestrians on the street. Anyone caught in her blast were sent several feet down the street, left to land haphazardly on the concrete. Most did not get back up.

He tackled her to the ground and punched her in the gut before she could release another screech. She coughed as the air was pushed out of her lungs. Webbing her mouth shut he said, "You're done Shriek. It's time for you and your little family to go back behind bars." She glared at him in disgust.

His spider sense tingled and he rolled over top of Shriek and landed on his back. Looking up he saw several sharp claws swipe where he had just been. Doppelgänger had come to Shriek's rescue. Spider-Man quickly got up and turned to face Doppelgänger. The creature snarled at him and leaped trying to slash at his chest, but Spider-Man was too quick. Shooting out a web line he snagged on of Doppelgänger's clawed arms and began swinging him around in much the same way a cowboy would swing his lasso.

"Woot!" Spider-Man shouted. He continued in a very fake cowboy accent, "Look at what us here cow-folk were able to dredge up. A bonafide spider-monster. Yeehaw!" He released his web line and watched as Doppelgänger flew into a nearby wall and slide down. He did not get back up.

Turning back to Shriek he was greeted with a hypersonic screech to the body. He spun head over heels backwards until he hit a parked car several feet away.

"Ouch," he said. "Did anyone get the number of that taxi?"

As he crawled back up Shriek advanced on him. "Oh you poor little insect, have we seen better days?"

Spider-Man sighed, "Do I have to give you the same speech I gave your boyfriend. Geez, maybe I need to see about having SHIELD install a science classroom in the Raft for you guys."

Before Shriek could respond a huge explosion occurred overhead, which sent a shockwave several blocks down the street and many windows could be heard shattering from the impact. All around them pirates began to drop like flies. They fell where they stood and did not get back up.

Before Shriek could regain her composure, Spider-Man took the advantage and came up below her punching her in the chin. He hit her with such force that her feet left the ground. When she landed she did not move, but to make sure she would not be able to get up he webbed her feet and hands to the ground and once again webbed her mouth shut.

Looks like Samus was able to blow up the ship, he thought. Now we just need to deal with Doppelgänger and Carnage. He was so lost in his thoughts he didn't feel his spider sense tingle until it was to late. Turning around he was bowled over by Doppelgänger who had regained consciousness.

The monster began slashing at Spider-Man with all of his clawed hands and feet. He ripped and tore at his uniform and began to draw blood. Spider-Man bit back several agonizing yells as Doppelgänger tore into him. He tried swinging at the creature, but Doppelgänger was in such a furious rage that the hits did not seem to affect him.

Spider-Man was pretty sure he was about to be sliced to millions of pieces when a massive arm caught Doppelgänger by surprise and punched him in the gut. The monster let out an agonizing roar and flew backwards. Spider-Man looked up to see Venom standing over him. Extending his arm out, Venom helped Spider-Man get stand back up.

"Sorry for the late arrival," he said. "Had to deal with some renegade Space Pirates."

"Tell me about it," Spider-Man replied. "At least they seem to be taken care of."

"Yes," Venom agreed. "Now to deal with Carnage, Shriek, and Doppelgänger."

"Shriek has already been dealt with," Spider-Man indicated her webbed form a few feet from them.

"Good. Now to find –"

"Oh yay, Pops has joined the party," they heard Carnage cackle. They faced Carnage who had freed himself from Spider-Man's webbing and come to stand beside Doppelgänger. As Doppelgänger rose up to his feet Carnage asked, "Hey Spider, since Venom is my Pops does that make you my Grand pops?" A vicious smile crossed his face.

"Whether it does or not, I'm still going to school you, Kasady," Spider-Man replied.

"Bring it on," Carnage said as he and Doppelgänger charged toward Spider-Man and Venom.