NOVEL WEB Arc Fifteen. Chapter Four Hundred Thirty-Four. Steamy Encounter
Emma had wanted to rescue him, but instead, she lifted Tony and took him back to Stark Tower. Venom hadn’t done a lot of damage, but it was enough he was out of the fight.
The Venombuster armour had been formidable, but in the end, it was useless. Technology against a technopath was as sensible as using metal guns against Erik. As he made sure every Iron Legion drone was disabled he heard Liv.
Peter, we’re relaying messages from every other group with a Symbiote member.
Vengeance and Wrath are helping Natasha. Once they have her family, they’ll drop them here and then head back into New York to help Eugene.
Eugene has said that Ross and his Thunderbolts contained Steve. He is in a holding facility but Eugene is working to free him. It seemed more like I don’t know, a show to stop Steve from really getting in trouble. Eugene thinks they will be free within the hour. Felicia is helping him, and yes I know, but she is.
Wanda and Laura are at the Sanctum with Stephen, and they are safe, even if Stephen says you owe him again. With that magic, we cannot contact them, but Wanda will check in again in an hour.
I cannot get in contact with Helios, Jean is just not in my range, and neither is Shuri. We really need to test exactly how far we can communicate, maybe a cross-country road trip would be nice.
And I'm sorry Peter, but we haven't been able to contact Selene either. I know she’s telepathic but I just don't know how to reach her.
Elektra has taken care of the Black Cats, Emma is safe, and she is coming to help you.
It's fine Liv, stay safe, Tell everyone I love them.
As Venom stood over the remains of Tony’s Legion he felt the presence at the edge of his senses. A massive heat signature, which could only be one person.
“So, I hear you went after everyone. Bad idea Ross. You made this personal.”
Venom had felt Red Hulk approaching from almost a mile away. While his senses were heightened the gamma radiation lit Ross up like a Christmas tree. Even when he wasn't Red Hulk, his body temperature was a giveaway.
“It’s always personal, son.” Ross motioned to the drone, sparking and crushed by Venom. ”He failed but we got some of your team. You want to stand down, or do I make you?”
Venom snorted, “Make me? You think some Formula makes you all-powerful.” Venom clenched a fist, “A man makes his powers, powers do not make the man.”
Red Hulk snorted, “An’ thanks to you, I've got more power than Banner ever had. You can’t win, nobody can beat me.” To prove a point he clenched a fist and his hand began to steam. Venom could feel the heat from where he was standing but more than that he felt a tingle on his armoured skin. The gamma energy Ross was giving off was immense. Even Bruce kept most of it inside, and only his bodily fluids were radioactive.
“You stupid shit. Extremis? On top of Gamma formula.” Then it clicked, “We removed most of it, enough to let you rebind another Formula. I'm going to kill Stark.” He was tempted to tell Emma to ditch Tony in the bay and end this mess but Red Hulk laughed.
“You think we asked? You think Stark is behind this? Coulson and Shield, Me and Shield. The good ole US of A, making sure we stay one step ahead of those damn Russians.”
Venom shook his head, yup, too much Formula. Gwen knew from experimentation that mixing formulas was a really stupid thing to do. They all interacted with the X-Gene, and not in a good way. Extremis got around that by binding to the gene itself and acting as a bridge. Too much, and you got powerful but as Ross was proving, you also got side effects.
Ross was a calculating man. He ruthlessly and meticulously hunted Banner, but Red Hulk was dumber than rock. The Formula crippled brain development in terms of muscle growth. One side had the leader, all the power went to his brain but weakened his body. Blonsky, Banner, and Ross, it all went to the body and not the brain, and in front of Venom was the result.
“Ross, You aren’t winning this. We have stopped you, I asked Tony to stand down so this doesn't get worse, I’ll give you the same chance. I won't stop, not with these stakes, but you need to. This doesn’t end well, not for me, not for you,”
Red Hulk laughed, “I'm a military man, son. It always ends well for me. Pierce may have saved my ass thinking I’d owe him, and Coulson too. But nobody tarnishes brass, and the red, white, and blue never runs.”
Venom shook his head. He wasn't a psychologist but he could bet Bruce had some underlying anger issues, so Hulk was always angry. Whereas Ross, Ross was a patriot. Follow orders, salute, do what you’re told, and so Red was a super patriot, which meant he was dangerous. He wouldn’t stop until ordered.
“Fine, we do this the hard way then,” and as his armoured tentacles sprang from his back Red grinned.
“You didn’t have a choice son.” He roared and tensed as the already thick muscles of the man bulged once more.
Great, Venom thought, it’s like a Saturday morning cartoon with this guy. Not walking into your trap though. If I attack you first that assaulting an officer, and we learned from Liv that gets you jail time. So bring it, you giant baboons ass.
Venom stood and waited while Ross stood flexing and letting his muscles bulge. His uniform had burned away, leaving him standing in tight stretch pants and a tank top. He did admit that the newer Red Hulk felt more dangerous. Hulk was a brawler, but Red still had some of his faculties in place. He had that weird accent but that was it. He knew Ross was a working soldier. He climbed the ranks the old-fashioned way, and not with Daddy's money. Seeing a pair of Hulks take out a helicarrier was impressive, even through the lens of a news camera. It made sure he never wanted to fight one.
“You finished? I have a hair appointment at two, and you’re making me late,” he said glibly. “I need to get my nails done too,” and he held up a hand, and the claws on it lengthened and glowed.
Red Hulk stood and sneered, “Always a joke. Always the stupid remark, never taking anything seriously. No wonder your life is a joke. No wonder we hunt you now. You treat your power like a toy, we show you it not a toy. We show you Red strongest one there is.”
Oh shit, Venom thought, there goes his mind. Venom could feel the mental pressure rising from Red. To his powers, it was like watching a sink empty. The steady flow of energy jumped and then ebbed slowly but as the Hulk grew, the energy faded.
Wonder if that’s why Hulk is dumb. The gamma disrupts any connection to the Mind Stone through his X-Gene.
He would have to think more on that later as Red roared and charged at him. Venom ducked as he swung a huge soccerball-sized fist towards his head.
Formula made him strong, but thankfully not fast and Venom leant back to avoid the blow. Red, however, was relentless in his assault. Swing after swing followed, and for every two that missed, one would connect. Venom was sturdy enough to take the blows, but after fighting Vision, and then Tony he was flagging. He could fight, but not forever and not against three powerful opponents back to back.
It only took one hit and he was sent flying. As he thudded against a parked car he stared up as the huffing Red approached. He tried blasting him with raw emotion but Red was unfazed. Feeling the static interference his mind was projecting he knew why. Liv had needed to stick a hand into Red and powered up further, Venom doubted that would work a second time. Extremis meant his blood was superheated, and he would probably lose his hand if he tried.
Lifting himself up with two tentacles he darted to one side and scored a gash along Red's side. Red Hulk laughed as the blade drew a line through his shirt but the material closed and healed itself. Red clapped both hands together sending a shockwave at Venom. He braced but was still blown backwards and into the car.
He lifted himself free but Red lunged forward and rained blow after blow into his chest. The armour lasted three hits before it cracked, even reinforcing it with his cells. After blow six it crumbled and Red began a fresh assault.
“Stupid bug, stupid Parker. Hulk strong. Red Hulk stronger!” He yelled as he pummeled Venom's chest, reducing the area to a bloody and bruised mess.
Venom knew his ribs were broken, and one lung was punctured. He could feel the blood pooling in his throat, and he was only breathing due to his symbskin. Fighting a Hulk in a one-on-one fight was probably stupid, but he had no other choice. Without the Mind Stone, his other powers were useless.
All he could do was wait for help. A Hulk was a disaster-level fight, and Venom knew the limit of his powers. He leant back on two arms while two darted forward and wrapped around Red's arms. He lifted himself up once more and returned the favour. Blow after blow rained onto Red. His hands heated and with each punch, Red's face burned. He could hurt him. Hulks were tough but not invulnerable. Even Logan could be hurt, eventually. It was their regenerative powers, as well as their strength, that made them dangerous.
Red snorted and flexed, pulling both arms together. The harness whined as Red wrapped the arms around his fist, pulling Venom toward him. "Parker not smash Red, Red smash Parker!" Venom braced and tried to push off against his chest, but Red swung the arms and smashed him against the ground. He thrashed him from side to side before lifting him and throwing him toward a store.
“Puny Bug.” Red Hulk said, snorting. As Venom clawed his way free from the wreckage, he saw Red pacing back and forth. “It over. Red Hulk win, Red Hulk always win.”
Holding his ribs Venom pushed his way back onto the street. “I can’t, not with everything that’s at stake.” Venom wrapped new symbskin armour around himself. The ends of his harness arms clamped together and he coated them with blades. “Someone will stop you. And I can make their job easier.”
Two limbs darted out, and as Red brought up his arms to protect his face the others gashed at his sides. Venom's senses flared as the red blood sizzled and melted the sidewalk.
Crap, I can’t hurt him.
The blades were sharp enough to pierce his armour and skin. But he was so juiced his blood would render the city block inhabitable with the radiation.
Need a new plan.
The Formula Liv used wouldn’t work on Extremis, it needed its own de-bonder. Now he found out his blood was so toxic that he couldn't stab him either. Everything else was just going to piss him off, and he had no way to contain that much radiation. At least if he lived he would get Red Hulk banned from New York. A walking nuclear reactor was bad news.
Venom wondered if the building behind him was empty, and if dropping it on Red would even phase him. He needed something big, heavy and difficult to move under, even with super strength. A construction site would be perfect but there weren’t any, the junkyard, he thought to himself. It was close enough that he could get there and it was all scrap anyway.
Red Hulk had other plans though. As Venom lifted himself the massive monster leapt for him. He grabbed ahold of the two arms anchoring him to the sidewalk. “Puny bug not listen.” Swinging Venom around he slammed him into the sidewalk over and over.
As he flopped, trying to get screaming muscles to work Red grinned. Spying a fire hydrant, he dragged Venom over and wrapped both arms around it. He ignored the screeching as he tied them in a massive bow around it before twisting the top. As water gushed into the air it steamed and evaporated it hit Red skin, clouding the area in a thick fog.
Knowing he was trapped anyway, Venom disconnected from the harness and crawled away. He had been beaten worse, but he still needed time to heal. In the clouds of steam, he hoped Red was too preoccupied or just too dumb to notice he was gone.
Help, I need help, he sent out. The blows to his chest had shifted it and it pressed against something inside his chest. He made it to a building and leaned against one wall. He could feel his injuries knit together but the damage was far worse. He could feel the radiation poisoning from exposure to Red Hulk’s blood. It had only been a few drops, no more than a teaspoon, but it was enough to hurt him. Anyone else would not survive.
As his head swam and Red just grinned watching him try to stand, Venom heard the voice.
I am on my way, darling. Do try to stay in one piece, I might have plans for you later.
