I stood back and looked at my reflection in the mirror.
"Well? Venom asked inside my head.
"Nah," I said. "I don't like it, let's try something new."
I was trying to figure out what my 'costume' should look like. During one of our training sessions Wildcat had suggested that I should work something out if I was gonna do the whole crime-fighting schtick, his reasoning being that when I was in Venom-form, I looked outright horrifying and would scare even the people I helped (which was true, since it had already happened).
So here I was, trying to come up with something that would be intimidating, but not horrifying. It really helped that Venom could alter his appearance, that made this whole affair much easier.
After half an hour of trial and error, I settled on something that I actually kinda liked, though admittedly it was not very original. In fact, it was basically Alien X from Ben 10 minus the stars and the Omnitrix logo.
But fuck it, I looked cool. I didn't have my own logo but I was fine with, there was no real need for it.
"There we go, that's better!" I said, looking myself over.
"Eh… can't we at least keep the mouth, Adrian?" Venom asked.
"Nope, absolutely not," I answered. The mouth had been the first thing I had gotten rid of when I was working on the costume, much to Venom's disappointment.
"Okay, but do we have to be this tiny?"
"What do you mean, tiny? This is my real physique!" I said, a bit defensively.
"Like I said, tiny."
I sighed. When I was in Venom-form I was usually pushing seven-ish feet in terms of height. But with my new look I had decided to stick to my human physique, which wasn't horrible, if I do say so myself. I had gained a decent bit of muscle, thanks to the past three weeks of training with Wildcat.
At the end of the day, it didn't really make a difference one way or the other how big I looked as Venom, since I was just as powerful either way. It only came down to aesthetic, and I was going for a bit of a sleek, stealthier look rather than a big hulking tank.
Anyway, it was getting dark so I headed out into the city on my usual nighttime prowl, leaping across rooftops as I made my way across town.
The past three and a half weeks had been the most productive ones I've experienced in a long, long time. Hectic, but also productive. Between school, training with Wildcat and then patrolling the streets every night, I didn't have much free time. Heck, a week and a half into my training, I decided to quit my job at the restaurant. That freed up my schedule considerably, and I was still pretty better off in terms of money than I had been prior to the crimefighting thing. Stealing from criminals, even low-level ones was surprisingly profitable.
In all honesty, I was the happiest I'd been in years.
[…]
(Meanwhile, in Gotham City)
In hindsight, choosing to go to Gotham City (aka the worst city in the country) with a mysterious thief lady had been a stupidly reckless decision, but nonetheless, Felicia was glad she did it. Because the next few weeks were by far the best thing that had happened to her ever since her father got arrested.
Catwoman, whose real name turned out to be Selina Kyle, reluctantly agreed to let Felicia sleep on the couch of her penthouse living room, and she only did so because there was no other place the younger girl could really go to in Gotham. Felicia didn't complain, the couch was more comfortable than most beds.
Her training was tough. Selina only had a few weeks to bring Felicia up to scratch, and she needed to teach her the basics of stealing, combat and a bunch of other skills. Fortunately, Felicia learned quick, or maybe she just paid extra attention since this was her one way out of the mess she had been in before. Either way, she made good progress.
Now, over three weeks into her training, Felicia hit a human-shaped dummy with everything she'd been taught combat-wise, as her mentor observed her movements with pursed lips.
Selina wasn't expecting her to outright beat an enemy down, there was only so much she could teach the girl in four weeks. Instead, she had taught Felicia to fight in a way that would debilitate and slow down an enemy.
Felica shot her lead hand forward, feigning a jab but smacking her forearm off of the windpipe of the dummy, then hooking her hand on the shoulder and pulling the dummy down for a knee to the groin, followed by an elbow to the face that knocked the its head off. Felicia looked back at Selina triumphantly.
"Good," Catwoman said with a nod. "No need to hold back, if you think a blow can buy you time to get away, go for it. If you think you have an opening to take care of your opponent for good, go for it. Heroes won't kill you… but they won't fool around either," she looked down at the broken dummy, then at the clock on the wall. "Okay, you can take a five-minute break from fighting now, but I'll quiz you during that."
Felicia walked over to a corner and picked up her water bottle. "Hit me," she said.
"Okay, you know well enough how to avoid police so… tell me about the heroes in New York and how exactly you plan on not getting your ass kicked by them."
"Okay, well, I won't steal anything huge. That way I can avoid any heat. The Fantastic Four and the Avengers generally deal with bigger stuff than robberies, so I'm mostly safe from them," Felicia responded.
"But the Avengers still send out patrols each night. What about those?"
"New York's a big city, there's only so much ground two or three patrols can cover in a single night. As long as I don't stay active in one area for too long and wait a while between outings, I won't get on their radar."
"Good… no-go zones?" Selina asked.
"Hell's Kitchen, anywhere near Avengers Tower or the Baxter Building, Battery Park," Felicia said. "The first two, I get, but… why Battery Park? You never told me why I should avoid it specifically."
"Let's just say, an old er, acquaintance of mine hangs around there, and you don't want him to catch you stealing," Selina responded. "Anyway, most of the solo heroes in New York stick to a specific area, but what about the ones that don't?"
"You mean Spider-Man and Ghost-Spider? Well, uh ethyl chloride pesticide is supposed to be their weakness," she said.
"Correct," Selina nodded.
"I still think you're fucking with me about that," Felicia said. "No way pesticide hurts them."
"Why not? They're spiders after all," Selina shrugged.
"Not literally, though."
"Trust me, kiddo, I speak from experience, it works," Selina assured her. "Just don't go overboard with the bug spray. Seriously injuring a cape means that they only have a vested interest in kicking your ass the next time they see you, and believe me, you're not ready for that kind of a situation."
"Yeah, yeah I know, you've been saying that every day for the past three weeks now," Felicia said, turning around to put the water bottle down.
A mischievous grin found its way to Selina's face. So, she turned her back to her, huh?
Quickly and quietly, Selina snuck up on Felicia, ready to launch a surprise attack on the girl. But Felicia turned around suddenly and swung her leg through the air. Catwoman jumped back just in time to dodge the kick, landing nimbly on her feet.
"Ha!" Felicia thrust her fists in the air triumphantly.
"Not bad," Selina said, gruffly.
"Not bad? Not bad?! Pur-lease, I tricked you into thinking my guard was down and almost broke your nose!"
"Almost doesn't mean anything in this line of business," Selina retorted. "Either you hit me, or you don't."
"Oh, trust me, I will," Felicia said, getting into fighting stance.
"Oh really? Well then," Selina said, grinning slyly. "Let's see if you're still such a pushover, Felicia. Hopefully this time it won't take you fifteen minutes just to land a single hit."
"It'll be a helluva lot more than a single hit!"
[…]
(Back in New York City)
A few hours later, I landed on the rooftop of a fairly tall building downtown, and sat down on the side with my legs hanging over the edge. It had been a relatively slow night so far, but on the other hand, it was Friday night so I could stay out longer if I wanted to.
From where I was sitting, I got a pretty decent view of the surrounding area all the way up to the docks. Up here, it was… quieter. New York's signature noise seemed more distant; it was relaxing in a way. I could see the bright glowing Avengers logo in the distance, emblazoned on the side of their tower. I wonder what those guys did in their spare time?
"Who cares about that, can we go now?" Venom interjected. "I'm bored, I need action!"
"Okay, fine, you big baby," I sighed as I got up and continued my patrol.
Patrol… lord, that's pretentious. It was more like wandering around rather aimlessly, looking for anything shifty that may be happening.
Sometime later, while jumping from one rooftop to the next, I gazed down mid-leap and saw something in the alley below that caught my eye. After landing on the other rooftop, I peered down at the scene.
There were three- no, four guys, dressed in black. Two of them were carrying guns, the other two were loading some boxes into the back of a van. As I watched, a fifth figure approached from the other end of the alley. He was dressed in some kind of red and yellow armor, with large silver gauntlets. I recognized him… the villain known as Shocker.
"We're ready to go, boss," one of the guys said to Shocker. "The toys are all loaded."
"Good, start the van. Better not delay," Shocker responded.
If there was any doubt that this whole thing was shady, it was gone now that Shocker had showed up. Sounded like they were transporting something… possibly weapons? Or maybe drugs? I only knew Shocker by name and appearance, he wasn't that public of a villain, I didn't know what specific line of work specialized in.
Despite the situation, I wasn't sure if I wanted to interfere… everything I was doing, crimefighting-wise, had been low-level for a reason. I didn't want to get on anyone's radar, for a variety of reasons.
Fighting a supervillain, even one like Shocker, was not exactly in accordance with that plan.
Before I could reach a decision however, Shocker noticed me perched on the edge of the rooftop and shouted, "Hey! What're you doin' over there?" as he fired some kind of beams from his gauntlets at me, I jumped back just in time to dodge it.
"Get in, drive!" Shocker said below. A second later came the sound of tires screeching as the van darted onto the street.
I hesitated for a brief second before deciding to follow. Yeah, this might get me some un-wanted attention, but it's still better than letting a supervillain get away with potentially dangerous weapons.
I gave chase, jumping across rooftops, trying to keep the vehicle in sight. Slowly I started to gain some ground, then I jumped, extending Venom's arm forward and grabbing onto the moving van.
I pulled myself towards it, landing on top of the van just as another one of Shocker's beams blasted a hole through the roof, inches away from where I had been.
I crawled forward, and extended my/Venom's arm, reaching in through the passenger seat window and punching the guy sitting there as well as the guy in the driver's seat across the face, knocking them both out.
This turned out to be a less-than-smart move, since without a conscious driver at the helm, the van veered out of control and crashed into a lamp post, sending me flying off the top.
The back doors of the van opened and two of the goons came out, guns at the ready, followed by Shocker. Once again, I extended my arms and knocked the first two guys out. Shocker raised his fists towards me, ready to fire another blast of whatever it was that came out of his gauntlets, but I caught him off guard with a right hook.
He stumbled back but quickly recovered, and before I could follow up with another attack, he managed to fire a small beam at me. It hit me square in the chest, sending me flying back. I could feel the spot where the blast hit me stinging a bit. That was weird…
Shocker moved quickly, and before I could get up, he fired again, and didn't stop. I let out a gasp of pain. His beams, whatever they were made of, hurt me… hurt Venom, a lot, I could feel him cringing in pain. It was too much… a sharp, stinging pain all over my body.
But then, it suddenly stopped as I heard a thud and a grunt, followed by a crashing noise. Looking up, I saw Shocker on the ground, unconscious, and a newcomer at the scene. She wore a skin-tight black and white costume, had legs that went on for miles and an ass you could bounce a quarter off of… none other than Ghost-Spider, the partner of Spider-Man.
"Hey, you okay?" she said, holding out a hand. I took it, and lifted myself up.
"Well, my ego's a bit bruised but other than that, I'm fine," I said. "Thanks for… y'know, dropping in like you did."
"Don't mention it," she replied. "And if it's any consolation to that bruised ego, you did a pretty decent job taking out the rest of the henchmen. But maybe next time, uh leave it the professionals m'kay?"
"Sure," I said. I didn't have any intentions of fighting more supervillains for the foreseeable future, so I was fine with that.
Ghost-Spider turned around and walked towards the back of the van. I figured this was my cue to leave. The police, or maybe even some other hero, might soon arrive and I did not need their attention.
With Ghost-Spider looking the other way, I quickly extended my arm towards a ledge on the nearest rooftop and pulled myself away, but not before taking a quick glance at her ass.
"Pervert," Venom commented once I had left the scene.
"What? It's not my fault she's so damn fine!" I said defensively.
"But it is your fault that you're staring at her butt," Venom retorted.
"Hey, I'm a teenager. Blame the hormones," I replied dryly. "Besides, don't pretend you yourself haven't stared at T and A before."
"T and A?"
"Never mind," I said with a sigh. "Anyway, to more important matters, what was that back there? You're immune to bullets and shit but not… whatever Shocker was firing?"
"It seems I… have a weakness, to high-frequency vibrations," Venom said thoughtfully.
"Weak to… sound? High pitched sounds?" I asked incredulously. "Is that what that was back there?"
"More or less."
"So, I'm immune to bullets and knives but the fat lady at an opera could kick my ass? Incredible," I said, shaking my head.
Well, tonight had been less than ideal. The first time I fought someone that wasn't a two-bit thug, and I got my ass kicked. But oh well… all the more reason to keep training, I guess.
I decided to return to my apartment… I'll have to lay low for a while now too, so that any publicity that might generate from tonight could die down
[…]
After webbing up the unconscious criminals, Ghost-Spider walked to the back of the van and opened one of the boxes inside. There were weapons, advanced weapons in there… she was pretty smart herself but she couldn't identify any of the tech there. Just then she heard the sound of a motorcycle pull up outside on the otherwise empty street. She looked out onto the street to see the newcomer.
"Hey, Captain," she said brightly, spotting none other than Captain America himself getting off his bike.
"Spider," he nodded. "I was on patrol and heard some noise go off here. Care to fill me in?"
"Uh, yeah, so I was swinging by the area when I saw this van crash into the street light. Turns out, Shocker was inside, along with a few of his henchmen and some cargo."
"They crashed?" Cap asked.
She nodded, "Some new guy interfered. Took out the henchmen but had some trouble with Shocker so I dropped in."
"Shocker? So Toomes and his crew are active again…" Cap stroked his chin. "Anyway, do you know who this newcomer was?"
"Nope. Didn't catch his name either, left the second I turned my back," she replied. "He didn't take anything though, didn't try to attack me… no reason to suggest he's anything more than just a vigilante, really."
Cap walked over to the back of the van, where he picked up a box and examined its contents.
"Well, I'm not an expert on tech, I can't identify any of this," he said after examining one of the guns. "But maybe Stark can. You go, I'll take it from here."
"Sure thing, sir," she said, firing a webline at a nearby building and swinging away from the scene. It was probably best to let an Avenger take care of the situation. As she left, she could hear the sounds of police sirens in the distance, about time they showed up.
"Hey, Pete?" she said as she called her partner via her communicator.
"Yeah, what's up Gwen?" replied the voice of Peter Parker, aka the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, who was currently swinging across the other side of Manhattan. Gwen filled him in on everything that had gone down as well.
"Huh…" Peter said after Gwen brought him up to speed. "Okay, well, Cap and the Avengers will probably take care of it. In the meantime, let's keep an eye on this new guy, for all we know he could be working for a rival gang or something."
"Sure thing," Gwen said as she landed on a nearby rooftop and stood there. She hesitated for a second, contemplating if what she was about to say next was the best move. She decided to go for it… after all, you miss one hundred percent of the shots you don't take. "Hey, Peter…"
"Yeah?"
"Do you wanna maybe… go out-"
"Ugh, sorry, could you hold that thought? There's a robbery going down on my end," he cut her off.
"Oh… okay then."