Spider-Man. The House Of Venom

Herman Shultz stared at the wrecked office and shook his head.

So much for an easy assignment, he thought as he kicked a piece of burnt debris.

Sure, the police had been scouring the place but once they finished, they left. The lazy assholes who were supposed to be working as part of Aleksei’s crew hadn't cleaned anything. With no orders from up high, they had all taken a nice holiday. As far as they were concerned, the junkyard was shut down.

He had been called in. To clean up and make sure it was back in working order by the end of the week. If he could find out who actually killed Aleksei then a nice fat paycheck was coming his way. Nobody blew themselves up, if this was an accident, he was a nun.

So they brought in the ‘Shocker’. A tireless man who used electricity to its fullest to gain the information he needed. Being paid to electrocute scumbags and snitches was just icing on his cake. As he looked around the building, even he had to shake his head at the mess.

“Yeah, you, fuckface, and no I don't care what your name is. Get me a list of everyone who works here, and if they ain't here by the end of tomorrow, then I’ll be visiting them personally.”

The man nodded and shook as he scurried away.

Herman knew that being scrawny got you nowhere, so he worked out. Tall, at over six and a half feet, he kept his head shaved and his face clean. Project an image, his mentor told him, and the muscular dark-skinned bald man projected one. It said, ‘fuck with me and I’ll make you eat your entrails.’ Just how he liked it.

Getting a gimmick added to that. He refused to take one of those vials. It was all natural for him, not even steroids went into his temple. Instead, He loved his gadgets. He loved those old hand buzzer things as a kid, the shocker. To him wasn't just a sexual innuendo. He loved seeing people's faces as they jumped at the small buzzer but now, as an adult, he used the real thing.

The rush of seeing them twist and contort in pain was just as much of a pleasure as sex, and it always lasted longer too. Seeing the mess the junkyard was in, he knew he’d need it soon. Someone was responsible, and he would make them talk.

He gave them a day but everyone knew that you don't wait when the boss calls. They either got their asses back here by the end of the day or he used them as an example for the rest. Aleksei was a nice guy, but Herman, he’d fucking kill the assholes who did this. Kill one and the rest would fall in line.

He had waited patiently. Some of the guys found a flat-packed office. He stood flicking through a list of names as they assembled it. Then stared nervously at each other once they were done.

Everyone was accounted for barring four people.

Benny, who Aleksei had said was taking a nap in the river. He had tried to sell them out and paid for that betrayal.

Max, who Aleksei had said had been given that strange blue liquid.

Aleksei. Even with a body, it wasn't uncommon to find a suitable replacement if someone wanted out of the life.

Finally, Some fucking dumbshit kid Aleksei must have been grooming. Peter Parker. He showed up, got a job, after Benny took his swim, and then after the explosion suddenly disappeared like a ghost.

Herman took a last draw on his cigarette and stubbed it out. He looked over the group, shaking his head with a look of disappointment at who was left.

“Yeah, you. You get to be DS one, dumbshit one. Where the fuck does this Parker kid live? There’s no address here.” Herman yelled.

The man looked nervously over at his companions,

“Yeah, don't look at them, I’m asking you.” Moving over Herman stood in front of him, holding the sheet of paper up. “Which fuckhead didn’t get an address or do a background check on a random kid from fuck knows where?” Herman glared at him as the man paled. He leaned forwards and whispered in the man's ear. “Say it, go on.''

“Uh, it was Aleksei, sir. He uh, vetted him and approved his job.”

Herman swore. “Was he fucking him?” The man looked down and shook his head. “So why the fuck was he sucking up to a fucking nobody?” Herman yelled and the man flinched back.

“Yeah, you,” he asked as one of the other men raised a hand nervously, “you're now DS two. what?”

“Uh, He fixed a case, Aleksei had us ship 'em out not too long after Benny. Said something about it being booby-trapped. That uh, the kid stopped us from getting arrested.”

Herman threw his hands up, "Fucking Hooray! Finally, someone with a fucking brain. Okay, so your now DS one. So tell me DS one. Why the fuck wasn’t that in the report you sent to the top? and who the fuck was trying to get Aleksei nabbed?” The man shook his head, “Dumbfucks, all of you, fucking dumb as fucking shit, dumbfucks.” He didn't dare flinch when Herman threw the piles of papers at him.

Shaking his head, he took another cigarette out of its pack and lit it. “Clean this place up. Aleksei had backups and I want them. Get a new PC and get it wired up. And If I hear anything about we don’t got the guys for that I fucking swear you are next for my foot up your ass.” The men nodded and busied themselves.

Herman sat back in the office. Right now he had a pile of crates with a panel of chipboard as a desk. A broken but serviceable chair that dug uncomfortably into his back. This was a second-hand junkyard, but they couldn't even scrounge up a desk. He was working with dumbfucks.

Ignoring the mess around him he concentrated on his list of suspects. This Peter Parker was his number one. Nobody turns up randomly, works for a few months, and then vanishes. As long as Aleksei was smart enough to leave some kind of trail, he would find him, and then they would have a little talk.

Herman's reputation as hard ass meant the men he sent out came back quickly, and with exactly what he wanted. They had found a functional computer and the backup drives that Aleksei had stashed away.

The yard used a grandfather-father-son system. Every three days the records were shipped to a safe location for storage. The ones in charge wanted no corruption. Any fraud or financial irregularities were caught quickly and dealt with. It also meant that while Herman only had two days of records, he could see where the money was going.

Checking through the financial records he saw Parker getting paid quite well. He had catalogued and fixed the mess Benny had made. The work was done and all was recorded. Herman sniffed in respect. Aleksei might have been soft on him, but he did a good job.

After a few months, he was switched to a paid position, Herman leant back, tapping a pen in the table as he chewed its cap. Right after a bank job. Cross-checking the notes, he saw the logs for Aleksei’s phone and called up the recordings,

“tough break Osborn, tough break,” played over and over.

So it was that stupid shit. He was long gone though, but Osborn’s kid went to the same school as Parker, and Stacy as well. Herman looked over the files and names and saw the connection.

If Stacy wanted info on Aleksei then the young Parker was perfect. If Osborn wanted the same then his son's best friend was also perfect. Add in Aleksei’s soft spot for the kid and it all pointed to Peter Parker. What he didn’t get though was why kill Aleksei. Did he find out and threaten him?

He was confused. Parker was obvious, didn't hide his friendships and anyone with half a brain could spot he was a plant. So why use him? It was too neatly packaged up. There was more, and he would find out what it was.

Herman shook his head, he wouldn't threaten him, he’d off him, Benny was a testament to that. Aleksei was soft for the kid but not that soft.

Something else was going on, which led to headache number two. Someone had offed Kingpin as well. The higher-ups were furious as the message they got from him was “speak to Black Cat."

All Herman was given was a number and as he dialled it, surprisingly, a woman answered,

“Go for Cat.”

“Herman Schultz. Yeah, I got this number from Fisk. We need to talk.”

There was a moments silence,

“Sure, where? And no men.”

Herman laughed as if he would be that dumb. She sounded young. No modulation on the phone, and he knew it was defiantly a woman. He smiled as he hoped she was a screamer.

“You know the junkyard in the Sunset area warehouse district, Aleksei’s place?” He smiled as there was another pause, oh yeah, she had something to do with it or knew someone who did.

“Yes.”

“Good, there. 1 hour, and sorry but my guys will be here, that ain't good enough, well, tough shit. Too many things go bad in this town for me to be stupid enough to walk into your little trap,” and he hung up.

At the other end of the line, Felicia swore. She had expected someone to come for them months ago. After Bullseye and Elektra both showed up she figured that was the end of it.

And it had been months, so they were either holding back to let her get comfortable, or something else was going on. Fisk running must have pushed his boss, or whoever ran the families in New York to send someone. Now she had to deal with it.

As she stared at her desk, “well, I guess it beats paperwork” and smiling she lifted her phone, “Pete? Elektra still there?”

He laughed on the other end of the phone. “Yup. It's our rest and snack time. She keeps offering to wash my back in the shower though. Here."

Felicia laughed as the phone went silent and she waited as handed it over.

"Your man is very impressive Kitten. But you are sloppy. He is fast but you could have wanted me he was insatiable." Felicia stifled a laugh as she heard Peter grumbling in the background.

She knew they weren't sleeping together. Elektra had found him attractive, and charming but there was no spark there. Hades was a different story. She had revelled in the memories of her sisters and had been told off for pushing Elektra at Peter. It would happen naturally, or not at all.

"Yup, he is. But, I don't need Peter, I need you. We have an issue." Felicia explained about Shultz and the meeting.

"Then we go together. I am known, and you are not. Let me talk, and stay back. The Cats can take him. He is not powered, just a little man who likes to play with electricity."

That reassured Felicia. Peter had already shown them how to ground themselves. They could all make different armour. Even Poison huffed but managed eventually. They could all create barriers against not just electricity but sound and fire.

The training had gone well. Elektra had him doing a mix of training. Capitalising on speed and fast lighter hits as his smaller form. Then slow power brute force as his larger armoured self.

He was learning, and he was being used by someone who might want his body, but had no care if she broke his spirit or upset him.

Elektra was slowly finding her place with them.

"Meet me at Sunset Park in ten. We can get this out the way and dealt with."

⁂

As she approached the park she spied Venom and Elektra waiting. They were hiding in the denser trees. He had attempted to disguise himself, and it was terrible. Huntress could see that Elektra was trying not to laugh as she saw the look on Felicia's face.

His boots were shiny and knee-high, covering black leather trousers. His shirt was the same leather, covered by an open-side buttoned trench coat. He had on thick goggles to cover his mask and a fedora on top. She stifled a laugh as she saw him,

“What the hell?” She gave him a once over. He did look kinda sexy, like a 50’s detective version of his Venom armour, but she would never let him know that.

“We uh, watched Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid, and uh, got inspired.” Felicia looked at Elektra who was covering her mouth, giggling. “You said to practice,” he said in a slight huff.

“Go home Captain Tight Pants, and take off the damn hat. You look like a dork.” Huntress and Hades nodded to each other and they sent out a web line each.

Venom stood for a moment looking down at the hat he was holding, “but I like the hat.”