Avenging Justice 3:
To Infinity and Anti-Life
Part XXXVI
Earth, California, Coast City Outskirts
Venom howled in pain as heat vision and sonic booms hit them. The symbiote screamed in Eddie's mind, and he felt his body impact the ground. Then he was airborne again, just in time to land awkwardly. The Other, for their credit had reformed enough to protect him, but it was still painful. The Cyborg Superman was diving on them, and Venom lunged at the last moment. They were still thrown, as the force of the impact sent a massive shockwave.
Venom landed hard next to a campfire, screams coming beside him, melded into the ringing Eddie heard in his ears. The other was telling Eddie to get up, he was so tired. All he could think of was sleeping, this imposter had done a number on them. Even the other was reeling, its pain flowing into him. He needed rest, they needed rest. Despite this, he got up, just tine time for a metal fist to land where their head had been. A more fleshy fist followed up, and Venom blasted through another tent, with more screams.
Venom could sense someone behind him, he turned to find a punk dressed teen girl, and the frying pan coming for him. He easily dodged and chuckled at her, certainly had guts this one. Immediately he sent out a piece of webbing and jerked her to the left, just in time to keep her from being impacted by the imposter superman. He took the full brunt of the blow, and went slamming into a forest of trees. Venom tried to stop, but only managed to slow down enough to change direction. Only for more burning pain to tear through him, as heat beams almost killed the symbiote and man.
"You've been a welcome diversion," the Cyborg Superman said. "I must say you have been more durable than I would have suspected. Those broken bones, and let's see, ah, yes, perforated organs. Those are going to be a death sentence for you. As for your little friend there, they'll make a good subject for some questions I have. Now, with no respect due, DIE!"
Eddie saw the gleaming light in the cyborg's eyes, and knew it was time. The Other was too weakened, and he no longer felt pain. He was numb, and with as much damage as he'd taken, that wasn't a good sign. If only he had just….just….just another chance. At least he wouldn't die a failure, he'd made a stand.
"Now, I know Venom's a pain, but come on," a familiar voice quipped. "I mean the guy has made my life hell, but he deserves better than being put down like a wild animal. Barely."
A redwood tree trunk hit the Cyborg Superman, being swung like a bat by Spider-Man. The cyborg laughed as he obliterated the trunk and turned his eyes towards where Spider-Man should have been. Only he was surprised as the annoying arachnid hero landed on his back and began jabbing something into his exposed metal skull. The cyborg roared as half of his body jerked, and he lost his focus. As a result, he landed hard on the ground, no damage to him, but half of his body still not working.
"Come on Eddie," Spider-Man said as he gingerly picked up his one-time foe. "You look like hell."
Most worrying to Spider-Man, neither of them, the symbiote or the man responded, they were silent. He got back too late. He shouldn't have ever left Venom with this monster, even if it did give him time to get the message out and build the interrupter. He just hoped the device kept the cyborg distracted long enough for them to escape. They needed help, and Eddie needed a hospital.
A dark form landed in Spider-Man's path, "Clever little arachnid. My wife loved all creatures, even the creepy crawlies. I found it fascinating what we could take from their world, and for you, I feel your destiny is a brain in a jar. At least till I can see what I can get from you."
"Sorry AHNOLD knock off, but the brain stays in it's original casing," Spider-Man prepared to fight. "Warranty things and such, you understand, right? By the way, you got the five or ten year warranty on your parts there?"
The Cyborg Superman smiled, it wasn't a nice smile, "That wasn't a request, pest."
Spider-Man didn't need to know his odds, or the chances that he'd be saved at the last second. They were astronomically huge, and yet just sometimes life throws you a curve, in a good way. The Cyborg Superman howled in rage as his head was jerked to the right and down. His heat vision burrowing into the ground and missing Spider-Man and Venom.
Even more surprising was metal pieces, from the nearby RV wreckage, began to slam into the cyborg. None hurt him, instead just infuriating the cyborg as he tried to move his head, servos and pistons straining like muscles and tendons. Slowly he was moving his head, and much to Spider-Man's relief, no heat vision came out of those eyes. However, the rage in those eyes was unmistakable. If he could get ahold of whomever was holding him, the Cyborg Superman would be tearing them limb from limb.
"Gentleman, it's time to go," a feminine and warm voice caught Spider-Man off guard.
His Spidey Sense wasn't going off, so she wasn't trying to hurt him. That or it was being overwhelmed by the danger the angry cyborg was putting out. As he turned to look at the newcomer, he was immediately struck by how much she reminded him of MJ. That is if MJ wore form fitting armor, and had three metal claws sprouting from her hands. Wait, was this another clone of Wolverine, and would the crazy Canuck blame him for this?
Spider-Man put his hands up, "Now listen, I'll follow you, but I must warn you I'm a taken man. Only…"
"We don't' have enough time for this," the woman growled, threw him the wheel part of the RV's tire.
She wrapped a metal cable around Venom and then yelled something at the floating man above. Before he could ask why though, Spider-Man felt himself being rocketed into the air. Instinctively, he held on with all his might, and found it weird that the woman had a wild grin on her face. Yes, he was sure this one might be related to Wolverine.
Now that he had a moment to think, Spider-Man knew what the next step was. Still didn't make him feel right running from a fight. Sometimes though you had to use brain over brawn, and that required tactically retreating to come back with a plan. It just irked him that his best bet for a plan, was a egomaniac and a brutal monster that was just built to kill. Neither of those were exactly what he'd call tier 1 plans, more like last resorts.
"Get your frenemy to the infirmary when we land," the woman screamed over the rushing air. "I'll be rejoining Templar taking on that maniac."
"Who?" Spider-Man asked, and then followed up with, "and how close are we to a hospital?"
The woman laughed, "It's coming to us!"
She pointed and Spider-Man felt both relief and the tension mount. There coming right at them was an honest to goodness helicarrier. S.H.I.E.L.D. was here, and that meant the Avengers might not be far behind. It also meant more dealings with people who were good at ferreting out secrets from the shadows, and tingled that other danger sense of his, the one he shared with other people.
As they landed, crew quickly rushed Eddie and Venom inside. Meanwhile the woman was turning back, readying to fight. Spider-Man's Spider Sense went off the scale, and the man who'd come to his rescue came crashing down onto the flight deck. Following him was the Cyborg Superman. Rage filled the cyborg's visage, and a little flash of cold went down his spine. Once more he marveled that the real Superman had never given the world reason to fear him like this. He wished the big guy was back.
Templar came up, and used his gift to jerk the Cyborg Superman on his cybernetics. His opponent quickly shifted a magnetic field to compensate, however Templar was ready to challenge Magneto's title of "Master of Magnetism." He concentrated on two different fields, and sent a piece of metal right at the cyborg.
"Did you think that was going to hurt me?" the cyborg laughed. "I am….AHHHH"
Electricity jumped from the metal to the Cyborg Superman, the two magnetic fields acting as an impromptu generator. The cyborg screamed in pain, but didn't fall. The amount of electricity was enough to kill a score of people or more, and the monster still stood. He threw down the metal, and marched towards Templar.
Wildcat leapt onto the cyborg, and slashed into him with her adamantium claws. The metal arms showed slight damage, and he picked her up and slammed her into the deck of the helicarrier. She growled, and slashed out again, and he hit her with a massive blow. He brought his arm up again, only to be yanked back hard, and the Cyborg Superman looked at the man again. He was moving again, and brought down a fist towards Templar's temple, only to feel claws in his back.
The cyborg backhanded her, and felt the stink of an adamantium blade on his fleshed arm. No damage, just a feeling of being cut that was all. These two were no match for him, and it was time to stop playing. Now that S.H.I.E.L.D. was involved, there was no reason to keep up appearances. This was better, he had been wanting to let loose, to repay this horrid world for what it had done to his love, his wife.
"Imposter, I will ask you to stand down," Nick Fury's voice carried from the ship's intercom. "If you decline, I will be forced to take you down, hard."
The Cyborg Superman moved menacingly, "Just what do you think you're going to throw at me. I've got countermeasures against anything you can throw at me, even these two pitiful specimens can not STOP ME!"
Nick Fury's voice had a hint of a smile in it, "You're up, Fairchild."
A door opened, out came a woman over six feet tall, in a green and purple leotard like suit. She leapt at the cyborg, slamming her fists down onto skull. Much to his surprise, she actually did hurt him. Even more surprising was that she dodged a response from him, and then tackled them both off the side of the helicarrier. She was still no match for him, but he had to admit that this turn of events was a surprise. Still, he'd have her dealt with and then back to the others in record time.