Spider-Man. The House Of Venom

Winter faded into an equally cold and blustery Spring. 

Norman evaded capture, and Peter spent time patrolling New York to make sure there was no repeat. A dangerous psychopath with military-grade weaponry was more than just JJ’s brand of bad news. Thankfully, other than the usual assholes and street crime, it was quiet.

Gwen continued her course, preparing for exams at the end of the year.

MJ began to see the results of her own acting classes paying off. She had several small parts, walk-ons mainly, but it was paid and it was exposure.

Felicia had hit her stride with the Black Cats. One of the brothels they had raided had started back up again. After a visit and a small matter of discussing compensation. It was now the main headquarters for her organisation.

Liv adapted to life in her chair. At first, the thought of another interface was daunting, but Peter made sure she was safe and comfortable. It soon became a hobby for her to work on the design herself, bordering on OCD to make sure she would never be trapped by a collar again. With plenty of free time, Liv found herself useful to everyone. MJ could practice lines, and Gwen had a mentor, as did Peter. Even with Gwen away, she could make the pheromone cream for Felicia, and the pair warmed to each other.

Peter was the busiest. Liv had persuaded him to order another printer capable of accepting his nanopolymer. After obliging, and privately swearing at what it cost, work on the armour began.

His coursework was always impeccable, and it was more arguing with the college to allow him to skip years.

He found a precedent. A former student, Reed Richards, had skipped more than one year. As well as completing his degree in a year, he was also studying multiple disciplines.

Peter had the evidence he needed which the college accepted with no complaint. Happy that he wasn't the only one, Peter began to finish both his courses.

⁂

Easter had come around and Peter had planned to hide eggs around the warehouse. It was supposed to be a small surprise for everyone.

It was ruined as soon as Gwen woke up. She sniffed and looked at him, pointed and asked, “why is there candy hidden around the warehouse?” and then whined as Poison pressed her into gathering it all and gorging herself.

Leaving Gwen to nurse her sugar hangover, Peter decided to see if they could get to the Easter parade. The largest obstacle to that was Liv.

The parade had special passes for its disabled guests. If they applied for one for Liv, it was raising a red flag that Liv was not just alive, but where she was. Something even Liv agreed was monumentally dangerous.

“I’ll make it up to you,” Peter told her and made sure he pampered her for the day before the four of them would be out.

⁂

New York was in full Easter swing. There were food stalls, vendor stalls and a lot of people. The weather was nice for once, the sea breeze calming the first of many hot days to come.

Peter had chosen to go with dark blue. Choosing simple pants and a shirt. The weather was nice and even if it wasn't he wouldn't have felt the cold. The girls decided on matching spring dresses. Each one matched, showing not much cleavage but plenty of leg. They were frilled and puffed at the bottom with cute floral shoulders, and small sleeves.

Each girl had chosen a pastel colour. Gwen went with pink, MJ with light blue, and even Felicia, who grumbled, chose white. Everyone looked stunning.

They started with food. Plenty of different treats and drinks were bought, shared and happily devoured. Then it was not the crowd. They had no problems moving through the people to find good spots. Nobody could really stop five superhumanly strong hosts as they chose where to stand. The parade hadn’t started yet and they eagerly anticipated the massive floats.

Oscorp was still the sponsor this year, even after the scandal there was just no time to change the event.

While it was a muted affair, Peter could see that the VIP box was filled with the last of the board. Even after the Goblins massacre they were still drinking champagne and laughing.

They would still launch the parade. Harrison Thompson would still give a speech. Peter had to admit he was looking forward to seeing what excuse Harrison, the new CEO of Oscorp, would give. If he would even mention it.

The event would officially start around ten. Soon enough the crowd surged and the five were jostled nearer to the barricade. It was simple to dig their heels in and ignore the complaints behind them. They were all more than strong enough to stand their ground.

The microphone squealed as Harrison tapped it.

“Ladies and Gentlemen. Once more it is Oscorps greatest pleasure to be hosting an event in this great city of ours. Now I know that things haven't been the best, that a great tragedy was committed and we can never forget that. But easter is a time for celebration, forgiveness, and for resurrection. While we hope you are all having,”

The mic cut off with a loud squeal, and even Harrison stood back and covered his ears.

“Oh cut the sanctimonious crap, Harrison. You all were glad I failed. You all wanted me to fail. Those deaths are on you, not me. The board pushed for results and when you didn't get them you whined like fucking kids.” The glider hovered in front of the stand Harrison and the board were sitting at.

Goblins's voice boomed out through the armour's inbuilt speakers. “Well, you want a resurrection?”

Goblin fired off two rockets at the stand. They exploded and covered the area in a blue toxic mist. There wasn't even a scream and once it cleared there were no bodies, nothing remained.

“Come back from that.” Goblin laughed, broadcasting his mirth over the assembled crowd.

“You wanted a villain, someone to blame for the deaths of those poor saps?" The glider hovered and turned, flying up higher. Goblin stretched out his arms, “well, here I am. Here’s your nightmare before Easter. Now run, run and hide so the Goblin doesn't find you.”

Without even aiming Goblin fired into the crowd, and in a wail of screams, blood and bullets flew through the air.

Peter and company rushed with the crowd. They needed a way to change without being seen by the cameras now tracking Goblin. Even with the ETF's new equipment, the weapons Liv had helped build would make this a massacre.

“Pete, shit, Pete. Do we help? I mean, that's Goblin, we can't,” Gwen mumbled. Fighting Goblin people was fine, but she had watched the demonstration.

Peter grabbed Gwen and hugged her. “It's okay, it's fine. If you don't want to then grab MJ and head home, it's okay.” He knew Gwen and MJ had no experience fighting and that Poison wasn't the bravest symbiote in the group.

“MJ, you okay?” and she nodded, staring up at the laughing Goblin as he fired into the crowd. “Take this and get Gwen to safety, okay?” and he leaned over and pecked her on the cheek, “it's fine, it's fine. Muse, keep her calm, get them to safety, okay? and Poison, do this and I’ll reward you later. Anything you want, and I mean anything."

Gwen nodded and stared. Peter had handed MJ a huge chocolate chip cookie, from the bakery where she had first had to calm down Poison. She frowned, “did you plan that? You ass.”

Peter just laughed, “emergency Gwen cookie.” He handed it to MJ, “if you want it though, you gotta get somewhere safe to eat it, okay?”

Gwen tutted, “Fine, but I am holding you to that promise."

He nodded, but she was still staring at the cookie in MJ’s hand.

MJ grabbed her hand and pulled her, “come on, we’ll be fine,” and the pair disappeared into the crowd to escape.

The duo ran towards a deserted shop, making sure that no one could see them. They crouched in the doorway as they both changed and peered out into the chaos.

Clicking the mics she nodded at him and he moved out first. A webline snagged a lampost and he swung up and leapt. Grabbing the side of the building, he quickly climbed its smooth glass walls.

Huntress was after him quickly, leaping to the building across from him. They had discovered that while she could bend light, Venom could catch the shimmer of her as she moved.

They were both level with Goblin as he laughed and spun, firing into the crowd. The police who were patrolling the area had begun to return fire but it was hopeless. Once Goblin spotted them he would spin and shoot, and none had survived a barrage.

Venom clicked, “go high, hit Goblin and take him to the ground,” and Huntress gave him a thumbs up. With his new powers, he should be able to disable the glider while Huntress keeps him busy. 

I hope, he thought to himself but the last thing they were going to do was let Goblin continue his massacre.

Venom held up a hand with three fingers and as the last one dropped, they both swung out. Huntress stayed invisible to put Goblin off targeting her. As she slammed into him, the glider spun out of control.

Venom grabbed the bottom and hung on, letting his symbskin flow into the device. As he felt it connect, he gave the order to move and the three of them went flying.

Goblin tried to deactivate the thrusters. On his HUD he was seeing an alert that an enemy was attempting to access the glider systems.

Goblin knew it was that menace when he saw him swing out. As he was stuck to the bottom of the glider all he could do was fly fast enough to shake him off.

The idiot had tried to separate them. It was the first thing Goblin had thought of years ago. His boots were clamped magnetically to the glider. It was even a separate system. Only he could release them. He was about to fly at street level to scrape him off when his systems registered another attacker.

He could see brief flashes of whatever it was and set the optics of his helmet to scan every frequency. Once he found the right one he realised it was a woman. Not that he cared. Women were just as vicious as men, and it was why he chose Liv in the first place.

Stupid bitch, he cursed at her and wondered if it was Liv, back for revenge. Not that it mattered. He was going to kill them both anyway. He smirked as the glider flew faster and faster he took them up to the lower atmosphere.

Fucking costume-wearing freaks,

It didn't make a difference. She was still holding on firmly to the glider and laying blow after blow onto the armour. As he got a look at her through his thermal sensors he could see she was hotter than a person. That wasn't a costume she was wearing. As her temperature increased to ward off the cold, he only had one thought as to what they both were,

Fucking aliens.

Harry must have helped them and he thought of how he would eviscerate him, right after these two. He had saved John so he could control JJ when the right time came. Harry must have found the project in the archives, and found where they were kept.

Now he needs to die.

Harry having access to the level of technology was bad news. Especially if he shared it with Shaw or Malik. There was a reason he kept the Archives locked. It was his set of backup plans when he knew they would betray him. He smirked,

And now they all need to die. This bitch first.

He activated the suit's melee defensive systems and a blade sprang from one arm. He slashed at Huntress. She ducked under the blade and grabbed his arm, punching the hopefully weaker joint of the suit.

Venom was stuck. With his symbskin slowly working its way into the glider he couldn't even use his webs to help Huntress. While he couldn't fight, bit by bit he was gaining control of the glider.

He saw the advanced schematics of the power systems and ordered a release, the ammo drums began to spin,

Shit, not that, he thought in a panic.

The last thing he needed was the bullets that vaporize people falling from the sky. Switching them off he tried to get the guidance systems under control.

To shake off the two bugs, Goblin sent the glider into a spin. Before Venom could correct it, Huntress slid off. She fired a web line and grinned at Venom as she swung back up. As she flew through the air back to the top of the glider, she kicked Goblin with both feet in the chest.

The servos in the legs whined as they kept him upright but in the armour, his thighs ached at the strain. A blade slid out again, and he wildly lashed out at her as she ducked and got hit after hit on the joints of the armour. He roared through the speakers at the pair, knowing that they would eventually break him down. He needed a plan, he needed a way to get them both off him and on the ground.

Checking his HUD, Goblin spotted that Central Park wasn't too far away. Drowning the two bugs would be the best bet.

He heading for the Lake. He knew that the glider was shielded against extreme weather conditions including immersion. He would only need a few minutes to drown the pest while he dealt with his girlfriend.

As the glider dipped into the water, Goblin slammed on the brakes. Huntress was sent flying into the water. While he couldn't see her, he saw the massive splash she made. Locking on the centre of the water disturbance he sent round after round into the spot. He laughed loudly over the speaker as he fired.

Being jolted as he stopped, Venom tightened his grip on the glider. Now it was stationary he could let more and more of his symbskin flow into it. He called up the internal guidance systems and saw Goblin load up two goblin missiles. He sent an emergency jam alert they spun in place but refused to fire. An ammo failure alert sent the drums of missiles to the bottom of the lake. He couldn't see blood in the water and he knew Huntress was unharmed. He clicked his mic, “you okay?”

“No, I'm fucking angry,” was all he got back.

He felt the water ripple as she swam to the bottom. She pushed off the bottom and launched herself out of the water at Goblin.

Flying through the air she shot a web, wrapping it around his neck and pulling herself onto his shoulders. Once up there she let her symbskin stretch into a thin blade. Reversing her grip on the sword, she stabbed down into the shoulder joint of his suit.

He yelled and tried to get the glider to rise but Venom had already disabled the engine. A simple 'water in engine' alert stalled and shut down the glider, which now bobbed on the surface. Goblin growled and clawed at her as the blade slid between the joint of the suit. She kicked away his arm and twisted the blade. Goblin screamed as the blade punctured the suit, blood dripping from his armour.

With Huntress straining against the suit she made herself a target. Unable to grab her, he pointed an arm over his shoulder and unloaded rounds from his wrist launcher.  It was either take the hits, which Liv had not recommended, or retreat. Huntress was forced to leap backwards and back underwater. Roaring in pain he pulled out the sword and threw it into the lake.

Venom had managed to gain access to the HUD of the goblin armour. “Now now, no littering,” he typed across the screen.

Goblin knew that Venom was able to breathe underwater.

Damn insects, he sneered and flipped a hatch on the glider's body.

He pressed down a button with his foot and the glider began to beep.

Goblin had planned for a hijack and installed a manual explosive to detonate if he lost control. Laughing, he leapt off the glider and the boots of his suit flared into emergency rockets. giggling like a maniac, he sped off across the water.

Shit, thought Venom, “I've got this, go after him," he told Huntress and she nodded and took off.

Venom stared at the bomb, currently beeping in the wing of the glider. I hope I've got this, he thought and began to form his hand into the tools he would need to disarm it.