Garfield: So shit is about to get serious and I can't wait so let's just get into it!

Spider-Gwen: Let's go!

Miles: Yahoo!

A Symbiotic Bond: A Venomous Titan Reborn
Chapter Twenty-Three

Gotham City – Arkham
Garfield Mark Logan

"Robin?!" Garfield and Jinx shouted in unison.

The Teen Titans stared at the group of four in stunned silence.

"This is an surprised meeting," Harley said with a clap of her hands. "Hello there boy wonda!"

"Harley?! Jinx?! Beastboy?!" Robin exclaimed.

"Remy?!" Jubilee shouted.

"Um…Hey…" Gambit said with shift eyes.

Starfire immediately flew from the hole with an excited squeal of "Friend Beastboy!" Starfire flew forward and wrapped Garfield up in her arms with a tight hug, lifting him into the air as she spun around. "I have missed you so much!" she exclaimed.

"S-Star! I missed you too!" Garfield laughed as he was spun around before Starfire sat him down only for Cyborg to lift him up again with a hug.

"You grass stain! You have any idea how worried we were?!" Cyborg asked happily as he sat Garfield on the ground.

"Didn't mean to make you guys worry. I've been a busy guy," Garfield replied.

"Being Champion City's hero can do that to you," Robin said before he hugged Garfield as well, who returned it. "We missed you Beastboy…"

"I missed you guys too," Garfield replied before the two separated, with Robin and Garfield sharing a fist bump. It was then he noticed Jubilee and asked "Four questions, who is the cute girl in yellow, how did you guys know it was me, why are you guys here and where is Raven?"

"I'm Jubilee with the X-Men and trust me, it's a long ass story," Jubilee said.

"But the question is, why are you in Arkham?" Robin said.

"That is also a long story," Garfield said with a grin.

"Okay…Then let's get our storylines straight…" Robin said. "Starting with, where the hell have you been?"

So Garfield told his friends the entire story. From entering Champion City, how he gained his powers, his team-up with Rocket and then later Black Cat and Red X against the Mandarin, his adventure in the Darkforce with his aunt up until their arrival in Arkham. "And that's where we're sitting," Garfield finished.

But while he was forthcoming, he did leave out that he could speak to Sym and the incident that gave him a kill under his belt.

No sense in sparking their worries.

"Wow…That's a lot of shit to go through," Cyborg noted.

"Yeah and I haven't had a single fucking break since," Garfield stated with an angry tone in his voice. "Just bouncing from one adventure to the other without a chance to settle for even a second. I admittedly don't think I can take much more without snapping…"

"Yeah, I agree with you on that," Cyborg and Jinx said in unison.

"Okay, now to fill you in on some things," Robin said before he went into detail at what happened after his departure from the Titans. From their annual Beastboy night, his plans to add two more heroes to the group, being ambushed by a disguised Loki, to attacking the X-Men, being saved by the supposedly dead Ron Stoppable, meeting Jubilee and heading to China to discover the fates of Red X, Black Cat and Rocket to their time in Gotham.

"And that's our side," Robin said.

The room then grew silent before Harley Quinn said "Holy shit."

"I agree with that Harley," Robin said with an exhausted tone. Robin then blinked and muttered "A phrase I didn't think I'd be saying at all in my lifetime…"

"Well, you went and became hero Jinx, knew you had it in you," Cyborg said with a grin.

Jinx smiled softly and said "Thanks Sparks. I didn't know I had it in me myself."

"So this is where you went after turning down the X-Men. Ororo would be ashamed of you," Jubilee stated with a frown on her face.

"She would understand me more than anyone honestly Yella," Gambit replied with a sigh.

"She also would have tried harder to bring you out of that life," Jubilee replied angrily.

"You two also know each other?" Garfield asked Jubilee.

"Man of the hour of here was in the same class I was in becoming a member of the X-Men," Jubilee said with a disappointed frown on her face. "To see you go back into that life…"

"That life is all I've known," Gambit stated with a frown. "This isn't about me right now Yella, this is about getting out of Arkham and getting the Infinity Stone. That's it."

"As well as freeing my friends," Garfield added.

"And finding out what is going on with Batman," Robin said. "And the best way to do that is to get to Arkham's Batcave."

"Speaking of which, how did you guys get here?" Jinx asked.

Robin was a little hesitant, considering Harley, which Garfield noticed and said "I think Harley is on our side dude. She doesn't like the villain life anymore. Not since Joker died anyways."

"She is telling the truth by the way…I can feel that she truly hates the villain life and wishes to escape it," Sym said to Garfield, who nodded.

'I meant to ask earlier for your lie detecting skills. Thank you Sym,' Garfield thought with a smile.

"I'm sorry, Joker's dead?" Robin said with shock.

"Yes, killed by Bats 'imself," Harley replied. "Grabbed his neck and choked him out in da rain then broke his neck. Saw it myself."

"Yeah, that definitely doesn't sound like him…" Robin said with a frown.

"I think she's on the up and up," Garfield said.

"Well…Alright. Consider this your trial by fire Harley. If you betray us in any way…I'll put you in the Cell Z," Robin said with a stare at the female clown.

Garfield then saw panic in the eyes of Harley before she instantly relaxed and grinned. "I do love fire," Harley said. "Consider me part of da team."

"Okay…" Robin walked over to the wall and behind them and pressed a button. From the wall, a silver console appeared with a red orb in the middle. Robin leaned towards it and slightly removed his mask. A red laser scanned his eye before retreating into the orb.

"Welcome Robin," a mechanical voice stated before the wall began to rumble.

"Back when I first became Robin, This room was created as another way to reach the Arkham base if we were ever trapped in here," Robin explained as the wall began to lift, revealing a bright white steel hallway which had a descending staircase. "It leads to the main tunnel that will get us to the base. The sooner we can get there, we can figure out what is going on."

"Well, lead the way," Garfield said with a grin on his face.

Robin nodded and together, the group of eight began to walk.

Gotham City – Arkham Base
Unknown Figure

"Of course they figure it out," The figure said as they sat in front of the two large computer screens. The first one saw the group of teens walking down a tunnel while on the other screen, there was a male with his hands clasped in front of his chest with a green glowing shining through his fingers.

"Fortunately, I found what I sought," The figure stated before they stood up and brought up a walkie-talkie and said "It's time. Get here as soon as possible."

"Understood!" the voice replied before the figure turned off the figure then turned around and stared at the tanks that held three people in it.

The tank on the left held a Japanese girl with short hair wearing a black skintight suite with a black and gold bat insignia on the chest, a yellow utility belt around her hips, black shoes and gray wrappings around her arms.

In the second tube on the right was Caucasian girl with red hair wearing a button down white shirt with two of the buttons undone, tan pants and glasses on her face.

And finally, in the middle tube, was the caped crusader himself, wearing his full outfit, which was dark slate in color with a midnight blue cape and cowl, a thin black bat insignia, a yellow utility belt with spiky midnight blue gauntlets and boots.

The figure walked to the tank and let their fingertips glide against the smooth glass before they morphed into the caped crusader himself.

"Let them come…They won't get far," "Batman" said with a cruel smirk and a wicked laugh.

Gotham City – Tunnel to Arkham Base
Garfield Mark Logan

'Hey Sym, where are we now with power?' Garfield asked.

"We are sitting at 100% power. Finally…I was really worried we wouldn't get to this point. These collars are very good at doing what they need to do," Sym said.

'That's awesome. At least we can fight at full strength. Tell me something. Do you know how to get these things off?' Garfield questioned as he crossed his arms.

"I'm currently working on it. I should have some answer for you soon," Sym said.

'You're the best Sym. I haven't told you that lately,' Garfield thought before he felt a burst of affection from the comment and smiled in reply. 'Anytime Sym,' Garfield thought before he saw Cyborg's hand waving in front of his face.

"You in there Green bean?" Cyborg asked.

"I'm here. Just in thought," Garfield said. "Worried about those in Loki's grasp."

"Especially Rocket," Cyborg said with a grin.

"Yeah…She means a lot to me," Garfield said.

"I figured…There was something I didn't mention when I found that tape…When you was sucked away, she went ballistic…tears, angry words and vowed to avenge your death. I think she likes you," Cyborg said.

Garfield shut his eyes and said "I like her too."

"But what about Rae? You can't grow out of your crush that fast," Cyborg noted.

Garfield stayed silent for a moment. A few weeks after the Malchior incident, Beastboy had confided in both Cyborg and Starfire that he had grown a crush on Raven but felt it was a lost cause. Raven couldn't and wouldn't allow herself to feel emotions and even if she did, she would probably go to Robin or Cyborg before even looking his way

Garfield let out a faint sigh. "Admittedly, a part of me hasn't but I when I left the Titans, I knew I needed to stop. Besides, she probably likes the fact that I'm out of her life."

"You'd be wrong friend Beastboy," Starfire said as she floated beside him. "Forgive me for the dropping of eaves but I wanted to talk to you."

"Never apologize for being you Star," Garfield said.

Starfire beamed at him and said "Despite the situation, I feel joyous that we are together again friend Beastboy. I truly worried about you while you were gone. I prayed to my goddess every night to insure your safety…" Starfire said sadly but then she perked up and said "But she listened and now you have returned to us and with powers like spider to boot!"

"Actually, speaking about that, what should we call you? I mean Beastboy is off the table since you lost that power," Cyborg said.

"I've been debating it for a long while but I've been so busy, I never got a chance to rebrand myself," Garfield said. "Champion City have been calling me "The Spider" which is decent but it's not me, you know?"

"Hmm…Web-Crawler?" Cyborg suggested.

"Nah…" Garfield said.

"Oh! What about Spider-man?!" Starfire suggested.

Garfield scowled instinctively while he felt Sym bristled with anger. "Never," Garfield hissed out angrily.

"Whoa, dial back the venom buddy. It was a suggestion. No need to bite her head off," Cyborg said.

Garfield blinked and said "Sorry Star, I just hate that name. Reminds me of someone I really dislike from my past..."

"It is okay friend Beastboy," Starfire replied happily. "I'm just ecstatic to see you again."

Garfield opened his mouth to respond before he suddenly was struck with inspiration. "Wait…Cy, say that again," Garfield said.

"Say what again?" Cyborg asked.

"When I accidentally snapped at Star," Garfield replied.

"Dial back the venom buddy?" Cyborg repeated.

"Venom…" Garfield said thoughtfully as he tapped his chin while he thought 'What do you think Sym?'

"Such a fearsome sounding name for us. I like it," Sym said.

'I do too…Fearsome and deadly…Something I've learned I could be. From the Beast and from killing Oblivion…' Garfield thought.

"Why did you ask me to repeat it?" Cyborg asked

"Because you guys just helped me figure out my new name!" Garfield exclaimed excitedly, which caused Robin, Jinx, Jubilee, Harley and Gambit to look back at them. "Venom is my new hero name!" Garfield said.

"Venom…Alright, I could see that man," Cyborg said with a supportive grin.

"Friend Venom…I like it too!" Starfire giggled as she twirled in happiness beside him.

"Okay…" Jinx said with a blink. "That's nice but can we get a move on?"

"You guys don't get it. I struggled with thinking of a name for like a month since I got these new powers," Garfield said with a hidden grin. "So for now on, call me Venom."

Gotham City – Wayne Manor
Laura "X-23" Kinney

Laura slide off of her motorcycle and muttered "Oh no…"

Laying on the steps that lead up the mansion's doors was her teammates. Laura quickly ran up to the first body she saw and said "David. David wake up!" with an urgent tone in her face.

David groaned but stayed unconscious.

She quickly ran up the stairs, stopping every so often to check on the teammates she passed like Noriko, Hellion and Sofia and even Domino, until she reached the very top where her best friend Dani was seen against the door.

"Dani," Laura said as she placed a hand on Dani's neck to feel for a pulse, as she did with the others and thankfully like the others, she still had a pulse. "Thank god," Laura muttered before the ground began to rumble and seconds later, the Bat-Wing flew into the air.

"What in the world?" Laura whispered before she heard a familiar voice.

"Lady Kinney," Alfred's voice said from inside the mansion. She looked inside to see Alfred leaning against the wall before he fell to the ground.

"Alfred!" Laura exclaimed as she rushed into the mansion and slid into a kneeling position beside him. "I got your message…I'm sorry I'm late…What happened?"

"The A-Squad and the B-Squad were in the meeting when the B-Squad received a message. All of a sudden…They attacked the A-Squad and forced me into the Bat-Cave…" Alfred explained.

"Do you know where they went?" Laura asked.

"Arkham…They went to Arkham…" Alfred said before he laid his head down and fell unconscious.

Laura scowled and said to Alfred's unconscious body "Just rest up…I'll be back."

Laura ran down the steps and hopped back on the motorcycle and drove off as quickly as possible towards the notorious supervillain prison.

Gotham City –Arkham Bat-Base
Venom

Venom, tired of walking on the ground, flipped up and began to crawl on the ceiling and asked "Hey Robin, any idea if there are traps about?"

"No traps since I was the one that gave us access but if any of you guys found this, well…Would have been a different story," Robin replied.

"Thank god, after dealing with the Mandarin's castle, I never want to deal with that again," Venom said with a relieved sigh. "He could give Mad Mod a run for his money."

The Titans and Venom shuddered at the thought before the group came upon a door. Just then, the collars around Jinx, Gambit, Venom and Harley fell off, deactivated.

"Um…" Harley began. "I don't think that's supposed ta happen…"

"That is ominous as fuck," Gambit said.

Just then, Venom's spider-sense began to go off. "Something is wrong…" Sym said with a worried tone.

"We need to get in there now Robin," Venom said with a hint of urgency in his voice.

"No time to waste then!" Robin exclaimed as he took off his gloves and placed it on the palm scanner in the middle of the door.

"Welcome back Robin," the voice said before the door slide to the left, revealing a sight that stunned them.

The base was in shambles.

Computer screens and consoles were shattered and broken.

The various bat-suits that had been worn was out of the tubs and torn.

But what stunned them as in the middle of the room, there were three tanks that held three familiar people to Robin. "Cassandra…Oracle…Batman! No!" Robin yelled as he rushed to the two tubs only for three bat-a-rangs to impale the ground in front of him.

"Can't let you do that," a voice said.

The group looked up to see Batman, wearing the same suit the trapped Batman wore, crouched above the tube where the caped crusader was floating, his black cape draped around his body, the yellow eyes within the cowl slightly glowing in the dark.

"Because these three are my property…" "Batman" said with low laugh.

"Who are you? What have you done to them?!" Robin yelled.

The "Batman" smirked as his body began to ripple violently until a new form was seen. Now crouched on the tube was a blue skinned woman with flowing red hair, glowing yellow eyes, a black tank with a black chest holster above it, revealing the two pistols on the sides of her chest, leather black pants with a utility belt which held two pistols on it and black boots.

"I'm surprised it took someone so long to find me out," The woman said with a smirk on her face.

"Mystique!" Jubilee gasped. "I should have known it was you!"

"Release them or else!" Robin ordered.

"How adorable, the baby bird thinks he can order me around. Seems he was correct after all…Unfortunately, I'm going to have to pass."

"You…You were the one that set me up!" Jinx roared in anger.

"Congrats Jinx. You guessed right. You are a sharp cookie," Mystique said. "Now I will only ask once. Where is the infinity stone?"

"The infinity stone…Are you working with Loki?!" Robin exclaimed as Starfire lit up her star-bolts and Cyborg aimed his sonic cannon at her.

"Loki? Oh no…You think he's the only one that wants the stones? Oh my poor birdie…" Mystique smirked as she flipped a switch and pressed the button.

From the shadows, twenty Slade-Bots walked past the three tanks, each of them loaded up with a gun in their hands.

"No…It can't be…He's dead…He's gone!" Robin exclaimed with panic in his voice, his body visibly trembling at the sight.

"Slade? He's behind this?" Jinx asked with terror.

"No idea but we got to stop him!" Venom shouted before he ran forward, with Jinx, Gambit, Cyborg, Jubilee and Harley Quinn running behind him, while Starfire stayed behind to watch over Robin.

Mystique stood up on top of the tanks and said "I'd love to watch this but I've got a stone to get." Seconds later, the ceiling exploded from above her, revealing three steel claws that grappled the tubs before pulling them up, destroying the ceiling to reveal the night sky where a large ship hovering above.

"Arrivederci!" Mystique shouted as she, along with the three tubes, were zipped through the hole.

"Oh no you don't!" Venom yelled before he webbed the bottom of Batman's tank and was zipped up through the hole…but not before Jinx leapt on his back and followed him.

"Jinx?! What the hell?!" Venom yelled as Jinx clung to his back.

"She set me up and led to Joshua's death! She's mine!" Jinx yelled over the rushing wind as the two were lifted up through the hole and into the courtyard of Arkham where they saw chaos.

All of the major super villains were running amuck with their powers intact. Multiple Arkham guards laid unconscious or dead on the ground. Killer Croc, Clayface and Bane was repeatedly crashing into the large steel gates with their shoulders, bending the steel door.

"That's not good!" Venom and Jinx shouted in unison as the pair continued to go up into the air with the three trapped heroes in the tanks.

"Shit…You have to back down there Jinx, the others don't know," Venom said to her as turned his head enough to stare at her.

"I can't…I won't…She took him from me…She took away my shot at redemption!" Jinx exclaimed.

"She did but the others don't know about the large amount of people about to run wild through Gotham," Venom said.

"X-Force is still a thing. They'll be able to stop her," Jinx said.

"But that many? Looking at the crowd alone, I see Clayface, Killer Croc, Bane…Poison Ivy. Four of Batman's heavy hitters right there," Venom retorted. "You'll be a hero helping to stop them with the others."

"You're right…They would be dead if they come up…But even if I could go back. We're too far up in the air," Jinx said.

"Fuck! Well I'll climb up and then we find our way into the plane and force it down to help the others," Venom said before he began to climb up the web as fast as possible.

It was then his spider-sense began to go off and without thinking about it, Venom turned around to see Archcangel flying towards him at top speed. "Of fuck, him again!" Venom shouted "Hold on Jinx!"

"Here we go again!" Jinx shouted before Venom swung forward so he was beneath the three tanks and attached himself to them, barely avoiding Archangel tackling them out of the sky.

Archangel twisted his body as Venom looked at him and muttered with fury in his voice "Okay angel boy… Time to pluck you out from the sky permanently…"

"Wow…You sounded so…Fearsome. I think I'm in love!" Sym cooed out, her voice taking on a rougher edge as well.

Rain: And that is the end of this chapter. I debated on actually putting this chapter off due to wanting to finish the arc with this chapter and get to the next one. However, I kept people waiting for too long and decided to put this one out. The next chapter will end this arc and start the next arc known as "A Complicated Love" arc dealing with Raven, Jinx, Rocket and…Blackfire?!