Arc Three. Chapter Seventy-One. Hungry Like A Wolf

Huntress and Venom spied the last building Aaron had gone into. Huntress could see that it was empty, and that the man sat alone in one of the back rooms. They both knew that it was a trap, but unless they took the risk, they would never know who was hunting them.

The why was easy enough. Muscle in one someone's turf and you got the why. Money and power, and Huntress was busy snatching both away from whoever ran Hell's Kitchen. It was that elusive figure that no matter who they beat, who they pressed never gave up. That person, even if it was a man or a woman, was the one they needed to get rid of to set the Black Cats on track. Right now it was too easy for them to simply swoop in, grab the girls, and Huntress would be back at square one. They needed to find out who was at the top and remove them, or there would be a gang war and with just Venom and Huntress, they would lose.

Venom laid a hand on Huntress's shoulder and she nodded. He clicked on the comms they had bought, proper mics allowing them to go hands-free and hers clicked in return, both were set and both were ready.

Venom held the bandolier of vials Gwen had made for them, various corrosives, but also fire retardants, and expanding foam liquids, as well as a cream, made from Peter's own symbcells that acted as a sealant and healing accelerant. They had no idea what kind of planning had gone into this trap and no idea what to expect. They had prepared the best they could and now it was just down to luck or brute power.

As the only heat signature was on the ground floor, they decided to go in the front door, cliched but still the best plan. Working their way down could leave them in a death trap, and second-guessing themselves was not an option.

Throwing and webbing the glass vials at the door hinges Venom and Huntress waited fifteen seconds before swinging into and kicking the door down. Nothing, no cannons fired, or missiles launched. The house itself was quiet, and there was no sound coming from any of the rooms.

As Venom crept slowly forwards with Huntress lurking behind him, they edged towards the room holding the single person, Huntress confirming that they were still alone.

"I don't like this," Huntress said quietly into her mic and Venom clicked his own in agreement, "the target hasn't moved since we entered, this is definitely a trap, be careful," and once more he clicked his mic to agree.

Slowly they edged forward until they were at the door, Venom held up three fingers and counted down, three, two, one, and he barged into the room, pushing open the flimsy wooden door.

Sat in the centre of the room was a workshop dummy, wrapped in a heating blanket and wires.

Venom turned and grabbed Huntress as the room filled with bright lights and hot gas. Whatever explosives they had set off burned Venoms back and he roared in pain as his symbskin cooked under the heat.

"Shit, V, are you okay?" and he nodded, but he could feel the skin on his back bubble and flake off. There was still a residual burning and he figured that it must have been some kind of napalm or thermite, hot enough to cook anyone alive. They just hadn't counted on the thick symbskin and armoured harness he wore on his back. "Spray me with number five," he commed and as he turned Felicia saw the extent of the damage. Dark patches of symbskin flaked away to show cooked and blistered skin underneath. Gwen had made an emergency cooling gel, explosives or fire being top of their list for things someone would use to try and kill them.

Huntress took the vial and liberally smeared it over his back and Venom appreciated the cooling liquid as his skin peeled and healed under his recovering symbskin.

The room was empty now, everything had been burned away and a few scraps of plastic pooled and smelt bad in the centre of the room but nothing else. Whatever their plan was, they had either hoped that the bomb would incinerate the pair or, and Venom realised, they were waiting outside for them.

"Can you see through the walls and find out if we have company?" Venom asked.

Staring out carefully through one of the boarded-up windows, "we do, they're hiding but we do."

Someone knew about the pair's abilities to see ultraviolet but had gone too far, where normal bright spots would sit on the tops of the building now sat cooler areas. Someone had active camouflage against thermal vision and she guessed if she switched to low light that several infrared lasers were being shone on the building, either too blind or track them.

"The bomb wasn't the trap, the building was." she commed and he nodded,

"up or back out the front door?" And Huntress thought about it for a moment.

"I bet the upper floors are trapped, to flush us out the main exit, there are probably snipers on the roofs, and I bet they're carrying larger calibre than Steel was."

"How about a new exit, then, think they know about your invisibility?" Venom asked and Huntress had to shrug,

"Don't use it for fighting, so probably not. If they've got UV or thermal I'll be spotted though."

"Not so good is it?" and she stuck a long tongue out at him.

We can make us vanish, if the Venom wants us to, and Venom looked at Huntress in surprise,

"Uh, you can speak, out loud I mean, not just to Huntress?"

We are not speaking out loud, we took enough of the Venom that we talk to you now,

Wait, what? I can speak to the others as well?

"Uh, Venom. Can this wait until you know, we're not in a murder house with bad guys trying to kill us?" Felicia spoke, ignoring Huntress.

"Uh sorry, that was just, you know, different," Venom replied, "but yeah, sorry, eyes on the prize," and he shrugged his shoulders and stretched. "I'm going through that wall, then you stealth and follow after whatever they do is uh done I guess." and Huntress nodded and she vanished from view.

"So cool," Venom uttered to himself.

As he sized up the wall he counted down, he couldn't see if Huntress was ready and they agreed to stay off coms for now in case they were being tracked. Neither of them had much military training, books and the internet was the scope of their knowledge but it was better to be safe than sorry.

Venom took a deep breath and charged the wall, chuckling softly as the last time this happened he brought a diner down on himself and his friends.

As the wall crumbled and buckled with the full force of his charge, he felt the ting of rounds hit his chest and head. And he hoped Huntress had the sense to stay hidden. He spotted several cloaked individuals, the thermal blankets were shrouded in a darker material than the roofs and he counted six in total. If one was the leader he had no idea which one was him, they all looked the same.

As he peered around the street he started to hear screams, and looking up, saw Huntress grab and throw a sniper from the roof. He thudded into the ground and soon the street erupted in gunfire.

Several large calibre rounds impacted against his armour and unlike last time they squashed and deformed without doing any damage. His armour had adapted after the last fight with Spider-Man and the Wallcrawlers, and simple rounds were mostly ineffective against it.

Huntress was darting and skating across the rooftops, happily grabbing and tossing snipers from the high buildings, but as he watched a man, armoured and with some circular drums on each wrist, level and launch some kind of rocket at her.

"NO!" he yelled and launched himself up the building, leaping from one side to another to get to the man. Huntress was darted into stealth and he had no idea if she was fine or not, he clicked his comm, uncaring if it gave away his position, "please, tell me you're okay?" he asked, the worry evident in his voice.

"Nope, you need to give me a back rub later, and a deep massage too," she laughed as he spoke back, "very very deep," and he laughed. If she could make jokes she was fine.

As he got to the top of the roof the man, wearing what appeared to be the Mark Two Goblin armour he had seen in the archive footage, levelled a wrist launcher at him and fired. He saw the air ripple as the micro rocket streaked towards him and in a fit of curiosity caught it and noted the 'Hammer' design on its side. The rocket exploded in his fingers, throwing him back over the edge of the building but other than a little dizzy and deaf he was fine.

The rocket was painful and he didn't want to repeat holding one in his hand while it exploded but once he felt the burning heat of the thermite his armour adapted, a burn-proof layer now coated it and he watched as his smoking fingers shed and reformed their armour.

"Not good enough, now tell us who you work for and we won't make you eat one." Venom pounced and the man rolled backwards and fired once more, several shots thudded into his chest and holding up the other arm he repeatedly fired.

"Prowler, call me Prowler and no, no talking, only fighting.'' The man backed away and adopted a fighting stance, flitting from foot to foot with his hand raised.

"Fine, we fight then," and as Venom lunged forwards the man side speed and brought an elbow down on Venom's back. Venom barely registered the hit and rolled forwards, used the edge of the building as a step and leapt backwards and flipped over the man, spraying him with webbing as he passed. The man was trained, and fast, the Goblin armour was lightweight, barely past a prototype but it didn't slow the man down at all.

Prowler looked at the black sticky tar-like material gumming up his armour and tried to shake it off, failing he cycled his weapons and hearing them whine and click he knew they were useless. "Neat trick," and he pulled two batons from his belt, and with a swish, they extended out, "saw the fight with Electro, let's see if you like this," and he swung for Venom.

It was like watching a child fight with an adult, Venom sidestepped and ducked under each and every blow. Prowler would feign a move and Venom saw through it. Prowler would lunge and Venom would simply not be there when he stopped. Every time Prowler swung Venom was either out of reach or ducked and weaved away.

Prowler knew he was outmatched as the brute moved, but he still had tricks. He did note the second enhanced had yet to join the fight, either the pair were overconfident he was going to lose or waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

Pulling out several pellets Prowler threw them in a spread in front of Venom and as the armours filters kept his vision clear, the world lit up in bright starlight. Venom was stood stock still and Prowler took the chance and drove the cattle prod into his ribs, hearing it tick as the current ran through it and Venom.

"Uh, seriously, flashbangs, you just threw flashbangs at me and then jabbed me with this?" Venom reached over and even as Prowler tried to move away Venom was quicker and took one of the cattle prods from him. Shaking his head, "I learned how to deal with electricity after Electro zapped me, and flashbangs after a certain someone threw one in my face, you did good, but not good enough," and as Venom pointed Prowler resisted the urge to look, knowing it was a trap.

Venom grabbed the front plate of the armoured suit and hoisted Prowler up and over the edge, dangling him several stories up and Prowler raised his hands in defeat.

Venom grinned as he touched the cool plate of the chest armour. The Mark Two wasn't designed for combat, its plates were just a prototype, built to hold the newly tested joint and power systems but whoever had stolen it had done a good job, not good enough though. With a modified neural interface Venom let his symbskin envelop the man. Liv had theorized that he could only interface with the harness and nothing else as it had a neural link, as did the Mark Two. Crude but effective he connected to the systems one by one and shook his head. It was barely functional, even with the added tech and without the pilot's help, he couldn't open it.

"Got your phone?" he heard Venom ask, and taking it in one hand, dialled and waited. "Uh yeah, hi, it's me, um does the Mark Two have a safety release catch, I don't want to break it." and Prowler was sat in there wondering what the hell Venom was doing, calling technical support for the stolen armour. If he could move he would have dinged Venom upside the head for being so fucking cheeky. "Thanks, be home soon, here, catch," Venom said once more as he threw the phone back to Huntress.

"Hey, dipshit, release the armour from inside or I let go and pull it off piece by piece, your choice."

"How about I activate the self-destruct and you go to hell?" he replied, it had taken months of planning to steal this armour, he wasn't about to let someone else steal it.

"Hmm, well," and he felt himself being lowered "how about I let you go and we keep the armour anyway, I'm sure I can fix it once I scoop you out of it."

Venom hadn't bought his bluff and he swore. Fisk would be mad that he lost the armour but more so if he lost the armour and his life "fine fine but you gotta let me go, promise?"

"You're a bad guy, is that even worth a promise"?

"Honour amongst thieves. I'll leave and you get the armour, not saying I won't be back, but for now, you win."

Venom looked at Huntress and she just shrugged. Venom never had anyone surrender before so what the hell. He put the armour down "You've got five seconds or I punt you to Brooklyn."

Prowler activated the emergency release and gas hissed from the back as it forced the plates apart.

Inside the man was handsome but pissed, and Venom could understand why,

Venom didn't pay the man any mind, he just shooed him and as Prowler walked away he felt for the last resort at his waist. Venom was stronger and faster, but not for long. Venom and the woman were busy lifting the armour suit. It was light enough Venom could carry it over one shoulder, and while they were distracted Aaron made a choice.

Pressing the injector gun against his neck he felt the fire rage through his veins. His skin twisted and stretched, and Huntress shouted, "oh fuck," as the pair watched Prowler change.