Chapter 9 – With Good Intentions
The lights hanging overhead flickered on and off at a very rapid pace. The air smelled of burning paper with fresh dust, disturbed from their respective surfaces and drifting like odd snowflakes while from traveling from side to side. Inside of the Amphibious, a freight ship in the middle of an open ocean, chaos had ensued. Deep within the haul of the ship a team of four called the Secret Avengers were under attack by an enemy which couldn't be seen by methods of normal sight through the dense haze in the air.
On the floor laid Peter Parker in his all black Iron Spider armor. His mind in a daze and his ears ringing from the explosion of a grenade which took place just moments before. In the distance was the shadowed outline of a person, a very slender person. Immediately the thought of it being one of his teammates was not an option, because this person had a female shape. The smoke cleared and he was able to gather his mind.
The Venom symbiote stood before Peter; its black texture oozed off of the body of Jessica Drew after having just endured the brunt of the grenade blast in order to protect her. The blackness struggled to pull itself together, enveloping her body like a living cast. The creature gazed in Peter's direction without the slightest semblance of a face.
As the symbiote began to sustain its form, there was an uncanny resemblance to Scream, one of the six Venom offspring. As opposed to Mac Gargan's hulkish shape and muscle mass, Jessica made Venom appear slim in all areas of the body except for one. Her breasts were voluptuous and was the feature to stand out the most. Her fingers were thin and armed with sharp nails of greater reach than average by at least six inches.
The white spider on her chest was small and its abdomen had now taken a rhumbas shape as it wedged itself perfectly in between her two breasts. The white spider-eyes on her face were much larger than normal and like Scream as well. Lengthy tendrils sprouted from her head to the midsection of her back like animated hair follicles. At that moment, her mouth had been the second to last of the new Venom's distinctive features to form; rippling just below the nose (which was not there) came jagged razor sharp white teeth. Finally, the section of her body that had been missing an arm grew back with help of the black liquid lifeform.
"We knew you couldn't destroy us" said the monster with open arms. "Embrace us and we can become one, no one will stop us. We will not ask again, if you spurn us, we will kill you slowly with your precious friend's body. No one cares for you like us, we have always cared since you rescued the other from the Battleworld."
The proposed ultimatum was not an option in the least. To be taken by the creature meant to forgo all other objectives, it would surely twist his motives over time and yet the idea of using it to aid others served great purpose for a better ally. He thought of Eddie Brock, the second person to come into contact with foreign creature, how it amplified Brock's rage till all he could think about was person he and the Alien had hated in common. Over time Peter wondered to himself if Brock was driven to kill by the symbiote's ill will or did he truly have it in for Spider-Man.
Peter stood on his feet, slouched, as the Waldoes acted as his support to keep him standing as they pushed up against the ground. Venom stood tall in comparison to him and wore a sort of scowl with its large eyes. The creature knew him well for the time that it was attached to Spider-Man so it was safe to assume that it knew what the answer would be. It seemed to look like a large child who knew it would not get the one thing it wanted most.
"No"
The She-Venom shivered with anger, the wrinkles on her face forming a cold scowl and the sharp teeth grinding together and quaking. It let out an abnormal shriek the way its jaw stretched at least a foot down. It was about to make a mad dash for him when caution struck, causing it to listen intently like a dog to an ominous sound. Something was coming toward them and Venom wanted no part of it. Leaping onto the ceiling in one jump, it then proceeded and skittered into the darkness where any predator dare not tread after it.
Ghost a.k.a Spider-Man looked around for his comrades but his vision was still hazy. Two of the golden colored Waldoes arched themselves high to survey the area while the lower pair still kept him propped up on two legs. The video fed to the visor in his mask had given more static than a clear picture to his vision, attempting to locate the other three members of his team.
In an instant, Wraith was on feet and in a complete rage with holes in his mask from pieces of shrapnel. Charging with his claws fully extended, he ran into an open space and stabbed the open space in front of him with both sets of the adamantium blades. Had he gone mad from that explosion? Something in his brain permanently come loose? It appeared that he stabbed nothing but empty space. The Spider was lost for a moment.
"I can smell you, pal" said Logan.
Slowly, a naked man phased into visibility with fresh blood flowing from his chest like Miniature Rivers. His entire body was shaved bald, including his head and private area. The man gasped for air as blood trickled down from his bottom lip and onto the floor, covered in charred papers. He clung to life until the Wolverine took the last bit of it away by twisting his hands and letting the body drop like a jug of water.
"Devil, Reaper, we're surrounded. Regroup with Ghost while I clear a path back the way we came."
Both Reaper and Devil rejoined Ghost with their backs to his and followed Logan as he seemingly slashed more air. The Spider-Sense had flared up again with no end in sight. It caused peter's mind great discomfort with the incessant buzzing and no indication as to what exactly was causing the problem in the first place.
The three Secret Avengers entered the section of the lab with tech and gadgets when three more grenades descended upon them, skipping across the floor. The Waldoes each fired a string of webbing to smother the blast but the force was still enough to knock the three of them off of their feet.
"We need to get out of the kill box!" Roared Reaper with his pistols re-drawn
"Shouldn't we take them out?" replied devil with his billy clubs
"No, don't break rank unless we can find them. We follow Logan."
Ghost found himself laid on the floor once more on his back and the container of Silver liquid on its side, still floating around floating inside. His mind compelled his hands to reach out and take it for his own along with the accompanying syringe but he left it on the floor. The three team members rose to their feet but there was still no sign of the enemy to be caught by the naked eye alone. The Iron Spider suit still held residual repulsor energy from the previous battle with Iron Man but not much. "If only I could see them" he thought. He also noticed that webbing for the Waldoes would also run out of Peter's man-made webbing, which he forgot to restock before leaving the New Avengers headquarters. How could he be so careless?
"Wait! I see one, over there!"
Reaper aimed his pistol in the fixed direction which Devil pointed at and fired three rounds which caused a heavy thud to sound off shortly afterward. The hooded Secret Avenger was running low on ammo he would not have any left. Matt wiped his two Billy clubs out, connected to make a black cylinder capable of extending by a string made a loud smack sound after it whipped in a far direction. Another naked man revealed himself, falling to the ground with a red mark on the temple of his head. The Waldoes were still surveying the room but could not lock onto something that was invisible to the naked eye. Devil then placed his hand on Ghost's shoulder and guided his eye's into the correct location.
Blue beams of light escaped from the golden mechanical Spider-Leg and hit two men and all became quiet. There were no signs of anyone else in the immediate area but where was the team leader Logan?
Just then, their team leader came. Sliding across the floor like a human sized hockey puck with a foreign piece of steel penetrating his ribcage. His mask, which once covered his face was now gone and a fresh gash on his forehead was already in the process of recovering thanks to his healing factor. Devil helped the X-Man to his feet as many footsteps approached from the doorway.
"Remember those guys you two were supposed to take care of?" Said Logan in his most sarcastic tone. "They came back."
All of the soldiers Peter had thrown off of the ship earlier, including the man with the tough skin stood unharmed and disgruntled. Each of them were completely soaked to the point that water was still dripping from their hands and feet. Some of the opposition had shed their vests, gloves and boots long since their fall into the sea, revealing webbed hands and feet. It seemed that the NS serum could make humans amphibious as well under the right conditions.
"Your team got on, you don't get to leave" said the tough skinned soldier.
"Protocols Zeta and Epsilon are in effect. Prepare for sanitation in approximately 15 minutes."
Marc Spector rummaged through his pouches again, this time drawing out a pair of shiny spiked brass knuckles. He slipped them on like gloves and were a smirk too large to not notice not to notice under his black mask.
"Adamantium?" said Logan
"Spare material" replied Marc. "Just imagine what I did with the rest of it. We don't have a lot of time left, we should send Ghost ahead to retrieve Jessica."
The words Zeta and Epsilon were jargon that the Secret Avengers were not meant to know, however, words like protocol and approximately 15 minutes were red flags to be heeded. Marc kept his fists high to his face and took a boxing stance while eyeing his target. Matt stepped in front of Peter, ready you take the brunt of any attack directed toward him and Logan still had his claws out.
"I hear you're a boxer, Devil"
"Among other things. What about you?"
"Same. Lets see who can take out the most soldiers, loser buys a round of beer."
"It's your funeral. Never make a deal with the Devil."
Reaper gave a light chuckle.
"I answer to a higher power"
The team of four made a mad dash in a single show of solidarity. Reaper, Devil and Logan collided with the N.S. soldiers with fists flying in various directions. Peter shot a web-line from both of his hands from both of his wrists to the far walls on his right and left. Using the lines in a slingshot fashion caused him to zoom through the air like a human bullet straight to the open exit and into the hallway.
The hall was dark and barely lit at all. Any lights that were on flicked to live, were than instantly extinguished and the process repeated all over again. He could not see too much in front of him and the space was a bit small too keep the Waldoes fully extended for a better view. There were no sounds to be heard. Every once in a while there would be a sort of moan emanating from the ship. Peter was beginning to get goose bumps as he did in the past. Those dark moments when Venom would always hug the shadows, watching, waiting and plotting to torture him with both the physical and psychological variety in any way possible.
Using Aunt May and Mary Jane were always key weapons to implant paranoia, rooting itself deep into his head but the ones closest to him were now out of the symbiote's reach. Still the paranoia was there, the slight sense of helplessness without the aid of the Spider-Sense. No doubt this chase was all part of the prolonged game.
The lights on the ceiling were all smashed into pieces with shards of thin glass left to coat the floor. Venom must have created a mess as it skittered through the vessel, he thought. To avoid making unwanted stepping on the pieces he crawled on the adjacent wall to avoid from making unwanted sounds. Deeper into the dark went the spider and still there was nothing to distinguish as far as danger was concerned. Silence was soon broken by the sound of metal and broken glass coming toward Peter.
Heavy footsteps were coming toward him from the hall. The two sets of feet made much noise as they couldn't avoid the mass amount of glass.
"Did you see it?"
"Yeah I think it went this way"
Two fully dressed soldiers were coming down the dark path with their rifles drawn. The seemed shaken by their rapid movement and shuffling their feet. They stayed close to one another that they could have been mistaken for conjoint twins.
"I wish the doctor didn't send us to get a sample before we leave. Personally I don't like dying."
"Amen but this is the job. Gather the sample and kill anything else. Just get in and out. How hard could it be to find a black monster?"
They had Peter's complete attention now. Perhaps Doctor Fillmore ran in the symbiote and wanted a sample? He must have seen it recently to send his men for it? He waited in one spot on the dark ceiling until the henchman had moved directly below him. He repositioned his body so that he was stood upside down by his feet to the ceiling. The two men stood too close to each other that the avenger slammed their two skulls together.
Then, there was a man who had walked in from around a corner in an awkward fashion, no doubt from injuries that he sustained. The cuts on his body were still so fresh that tiny droplets of blood could be seen descending his on his skin. From further down the hall a gasp was let out. A glimpse of the fleeing man revealed him to be the ship's Captain, still covered in swallow cuts curtesy of Devil.
The individual running entered an area of the ship where the lights had not been crushed. The Captain had been stricken by fear at the sight of Ghost and dashed down the hall the way he came. Ghost reacted and gave chase without regard for the potential noise he could make.
"Leave me alone!" shouted the Captain in fear
Peter did not let up has he gave chase through the hall and steadily gaining on the timid seaman. Eventually the Captain found himself helpless to successfully outrun his pursuer as he felt a hands firm grasp his shoulder.
"Calm down, I'm not going to hurt you."
"Tell that to your buddy who carved me up like some kind of bird"
The Captain struggled to break free regardless of the pain from his many cuts. He let of a wail of pain as blood flowed from his incisions. His arms flailed in every which direction to break free but Peter wouldn't let him go.
"You had information that we needed. We thought you were in on the whole operation, it couldn't be helped."
The man gave up the struggle and fell from the effects of feeling light headed. Ghost just observed him for a moment, half expecting the captain to make a break for it, not that he would get too far away. He gave a deep exhale into the air, attempting to keep his open wounds from stinging any more than they already did. He gritted his teeth and moaned in agony.
His name was Damian and he explained that his position as Captain was merely a title, for he didn't have much authority or much respect amongst the crew but the pay was good, so he stayed. He realized that he should have left the ship after the raid began but in the case of personal health, very explicit instructions were given to all members of the crew in case of emergencies like these. Assets like Fillmore needed to be escorted off of the vessel, though he wasn't sure what the man did on the ship exactly but then there was the occasional gossip. Another precaution was the necessity to blow up the ship, hence the fifteen minutes. One would have to be effectively stealthy to hear any details of any operations on the ship, which he was not in the very least. Peter helped the former Captain up to his feet by holding onto Damian's arm and placing it over his shoulder.
Perhaps Damian could lead him to Fillmore and after that, Venom. The operation could very well be a success with this moment as the turning point. The Captain urged his new companion not to move suddenly or risk disturbing his injures, which were already turning purple and coated in dried blood.
They both inched down the hallway with caution. Peter explained the potential danger presented with the rest of his team busy with the N.S. soldiers and Venom left to roam the bowels on the ship. He looked around the next corner to the, looking both ways for any semblance of and alien organism before walking again. The lights still flickered in this new hallway. He was beginning to think that perhaps Venom hadn't come this way and that he should get to Captain to safety.
"Didn't know Spiders had such big hearts" Said two voices at the same time, one sounded normal but the other was more creepy and deep.
Black slime slithered up the back of Damian's neck and covered one side of his head. More of the gel slid from down his sleeves in big dangling drips which never actually fell to the floor. Peter's own eye's had widened to their maximum extent as the half of the man's face was still the Captain's and the other belonged to venom, exhibiting it's sharp white teeth with such a sinister smile that the corner of its mouth reached up to the temple of the head.
A sharp chill traveled through his head and chest. The heart of Peter thumped so loud that it was like a jackrabbit attempting to hop out of his chest. Adrenaline surged through his pours in one burst motion. The golden Waldoes sprang into motion with a screeching sound emanating from inside each of them but it was too slow. The symbiote had already dispatched four tendrils to latch onto the Waldoes and wrapped around them like coiled snakes, squeezing them. The sonic devices inside of the Waldoes were being crushed along with the animatronic arms.
"Uh uh, no loud sounds this time. We will rip these spider legs and watch them twitch."
The gold Waldoes each made another whining sound from their sharp tips. Venom cackled at this sound in superiority and confidence that the sound was harmless to it. Unfortunately, the sound was not meant to harm it as much as the action that would occur next. The sharp ends of the spider-limbs opened up, revealing the blue light of repulsor blasts. The alien released its tendrils and attempted to dodge but three of the beams still connected with their target, hitting the creature in the chest and sending him into a nearby wall.
Smoke wafted into the air as the Captain laid motionless. The Waldoes surged with energy and finally shorted out, falling to the ground limp. The four cameras in the Waldoes went from static to completely dead and the sonic device he needed to tame Venom was out of the picture.
"This is not over."
The symbiote slipped off of Damian's body and into a vent like lightning. The shock did not subside with the disappearance of the alien. He had changed but the fear was still apart of him.
The Captain jerked his body in an instant, wiping one arm the others hand in a futile attempt to cleanse himself of the alien's residual matter.
Where was Jessica's body? Time was running out and it may have been a mistake to search for the creature on his own. Peter was going to need help now and time was running out. Without the sonic device in the Waldoes he was at a huge disadvantage again.
Peter drove his tight fist into the wall and pulled out two sets of pipes. He gave a set to Captain Damian and told him get to a life raft as soon as possible. The pipes would make the noise needed to ward off the monster for him to get away. Damian ran down hall and disappeared at the next corner.
After ripping off the useless Waldoes, He proceeded to fold them as best he could and web them together into a makeshift one-strap backpack. It wasn't an option to leave these pieces behind. To build them from scratch was too time consuming, not to mention the cost and he did have to think of the long term situation. The repulsors worked well, no reason not to keep them with the inevitable rematch with Iron Man soon on the horizon, if he survived this situation.
Peter ran back to the lab and into the dark hallway with a pipe occupying each hand. His body was still shaking and the hairs on his neck struggled to stand up even while under his skin tight outfit. With the sound of piece of glass crumbling under his heel potentially gave away his position. He approached the two mercenaries previously knocked out and searched their pockets. The guns were useless so there was no point in using one but grenades were a different story. He took two for himself into another makeshift sack dangling from his waist.
At the next corner Peter was met with three blades covered in blood, cleaving a corner of the wall just as he approached the edge. What emerged was a frenzied Logan, covered in black ooze which hadn't took over every area of his body.
"Run for it kid."
He banged his pipes together to create the noise needed to stop the symbiote takeover but this only slowed the process slightly. It expand until till every inch of Logan's body.
The alien regained its standard large size and no white arachnid sign on its chest but this time there were three adamantium blades arming each hand. On its face was now two black fins which was strikingly similar to the usual Wolverine mask and the long mouth of a beast. A set of three white stripes were on both sides of its torso as well as the calf muscles also sported the white stripes.
"Where is the rest of them?" said Peter in a stressed tone.
Venom laughed as loud as it could, dangling its long red tongue while drooling spit.
"Busy licking their wounds" said the monster as it proceeded to lick the blood for the blades and smirking at Ghost while baring its teeth.
It rushed him with the full force of its body. Ghost weaved around the claws to the best of his ability, taking no damage. The only things taking damage were the walls of the ship, easily pierced as if they were butter to a hot knife. His pipes were knocked from his hands with ease
"We will cleave off your arms and legs, listen to you beg. And in your last few breaths we will take you"
The moments to strike back were too few and far apart. With the body of Wolverine its reflexes were on par with his own. When an opening presented itself, Peter struck fast and hard, putting his meager weight behind every fist only to be met with bones coated in metal. Relentless in pursuit, the symbiote stabbed and swept its claws.
He needed to get passed it but there wasn't much space to do so. He needed the monster unfocused, sloppy and frustrated.
"That all you got? Think you've really been scrapping the bottom of the barrel since Brock left you. Where's that venom who put the wrath of god in me?"
"Ha, Brock leave us? He was weak, the cancer made him too soft. If anything we left him."
"No, that's not it. I think he realized what I did so long ago. You corrupt everything you touch and some part of Brock's humanity would no longer allow you to ruin is life."
Venom cringed at those words as if they cut it deep to hear words like humanity.
"No! Brock was nothing without us. We made him whole and he spurned us all because of what? Cancer? We kept us alive to the best of our abilities and he sold us like lunch meat! He thought he was better than us but in the end he will die. Just. Like! YOU!"
The spider dodged a slash but was caught by the opposition's large hand and slammed into the walls with great force. Stuck on the ground, his arms struggled to break from the unbreakable grip as a set of adamantium claws bared down upon him, inches from his skin.
In that instant, Devil ran up from the rear with cuts on his body. His wrist blades slicing into the back of the symbiotic Wolverine until its attention was completely divided.
Seizing the opportunity, Peter reached for one of the grenades and stuffed it into the creature's mouth without the pin. A flash of light took place and left nothing but a bare metal skull in it's wake.
Some of the alien was splattered all over the walls as black dots.
"We need to make a lot of noise fast!"
With his pipes back in hand, the spider proceeded to strike every metal surface. Devil threw his Billy clubs into the walls, allowing them to ricochet several times before they could finally return to his hands again he would begin the process again.
The blackness covering Logan's body squirmed around, unraveling itself from the harsh noises. Logan's head was only just beginning to regrow the veins to blood vessels and from blood vessels to skin and hair. With a burst of life, Logan returned to consciousness to see the symbiote still covering his body. With both sets of claws he carved into his own body, ripping up his shirt, attempting to rip out the vile infection without regard for what he cut out.
The sounds were too much, the cutting of the metal was far too overbearing. Finally, it left its new host and scurried in into the nearest vent and was lost again.
Logan used to wall as a means to stand on his feet as his mind began to clear. Reaper had was walking down the hall with is hands covering the right side of his stomach.
"D, can you track the alien?" said Logan
"Maybe but my senses are still overloaded from the noise we made. Give me a moment to sort this out."
"How are you Reaper?"
"Aside from you going berserk and slashing me? I'm bleeding but I'll live and since the symbiote mauled the soldiers Devil gets out of paying for my beer."
"Clearly you're suffering from being lightheaded" said Matt Murdock as he chuckled.
After placing his steady hands onto the adjacent wall and all grew quiet. The vibrations given from the steel fed into his brain. He could hear the clanking of meatal, the vibration of pipes but there was a certain sound that he needed to hear, a certain slurping like a slug but this one was fast and difficult to effectively track but he did get the general direction of where it exited the vents.
"I know where the symbiote is— I see Jessica too."
"Then let's get moving, we don't have much time-"
Many loud explosions burst at the same time, destroying areas of the ship both internal and external. The Secret Avengers were officially running on borrowed time. As the ship rocked from the explosions, causing everyone to fall to their knees.
"Ok team this is it. We need to secure Jessica or we go down with the ship" Logan pulled a green emerald from his pocket and showed the members of his team. "Strange gave me this gem, it will take us all back to base but we need to be close to make sure everyone gets back. But it ain't gonna be easy if the slime has Jessica's powers. We need a plan."
"I've got it" said Ghost.
"We don't have time for you to get your ass kicked."
"I said I'll take care of it."
In a back area of the ship, many pipes lead to different sections of the ship. The lights were shut down due to the previous explosions. Steam burst out, meeting the cool air that was native to the room's temperature. The metal was covered with old paint that was beginning to chip and warp from the constant moisture. Hot steam whistled as it rushed out of damaged pipes.
Back in its female form, Venom laid down on the cold metal floor from fatigue after suffering damage at the hands of explosions. Having endured the heat and a mass of noise made it dizzy hallways which were beginning to smell of salt water and gradually began to tilt upwards. The space was dimly lit after the detonations set off around the ship. Victory was a foolhardy with four men now on the hunt so perhaps it was best to leave when it heard the clank of metal.
The Iron Spider stepped forward from the shadows with a grenade in hand. Waldoes still hung by the sack of webbing on his back and little light made the gold colors shine while most of the body was in darkness. The alien bared its teeth like a rabid dog laying claim to its territory.
Accessing Jessica's powers to shoot her Venom blasts. The energy blasts missed their target by inches as they struck pipes.
"Leave us alone."
"Just give up. You've already taken two explosions and I doubt you'll survive a third."
"No, we have the Spider-Woman, you wouldn't dare risk her life if it costs you your mission. You are too soft."
"Wrong. I used to be soft but now I do what I have to. If you know about the mission then you know she doesn't have to be alive besides she doesn't take damage so easily but you do. I don't mind either way."
He walked up to his wounded enemy without fear until he stood in front of it. With one hand held the grenade tight as the other had the index finger on the pin. He tugged it so the pin came right out.
"Wait! We… we give up."
He slid the pin back into place.
"Good choice. But you were right before, I do need you."
While on its knees, Venom looked up in shock as Peter Stuck it in the chest with the stinger from his right forearm. With a swift motion the sharp needle, sliding through the layer of the symbiote and surged through her system and fell the floor.
The inside of the ship wailed from the sound of rushing water taking over all the compartments it came across.
The rest of the team walked from out of the shadows as well, ready to make their long overdue exit from the freighter. They encircled the it and waited on Logan to make his move
Logan cracked the gem in his hands and unleashed a radiant green light which washed over the entire team, enveloping them as water finally rushed from down the corridor. In the next moment, everyone returned back in the New Avengers headquarters with an unconscious She-Venom in the arms of Matt Murdock.
They had returned to the New Avengers headquarters in the center of the lobby area. Everybody stared with great interest, not just that the team had returned but whom they returned with.
"Sorry Pete but I'm going to have to report this to Cage" said Logan in a low voice before walking onward to find Luke.
The mission was over but next was the debriefing and Peter was sure Cage would have questions.
"It doesn't matter"