Arc Four. Chapter Ninety-Two. Supermarket Sweep

Venom stared at the explosive, Norman had rigged one of the Goblin rockets to explode on a timer. Once the chain reaction started it would spread into the other engine, making a really big mess, Venom thought. Once you also added in the ammo drums, it was not just a bomb but a huge shrapnel claymore that would devastate anything within a large area.

Thankfully his symbskin could wrap around the warhead and as he carefully removed it he made sure that there were no backup systems and sighed in relief as the glider powered down and his senses told him that the glider was offline.

He hit the Bluetooth on his headset and dialled home,

"uh hey Liv, did Gwen and MJ make it back?"

"Oh thank the stars Peter, yes, yes they did. We're watching you on TV, there are cameras all over the place, be careful dear, oh, if you can, um, can you bring that home?"

Venom laughed, "will it make up for having to stay home?" he teased her

"Oh, I don't know dear, I still think an evening together is still in the books, but as much as I like this, you really should be going after Felicia. Is she okay chasing Norman on his own?"

"I can't leave the glider, and yeah, Huntress will be fine."

"Good but be careful, we're watching you right now and all J.J seems to be focusing on is you and your supposed link to the Goblin, and ignoring the deaths of the crowd."

Venom sighed, as the glider powered up and his symbskin flowed through it, he lifted off and after a few shaky stalls managed to get it onto the roof of a high rise, His main problem was what to do with the Goblin warheads. They were dangerous and while the glider was fine to be left, he didn't want to risk leaving the missiles as well.

Staring at them for a moment, he unscrewed each warhead, webbed a disk, laid them in it and then webbed it all together, searching for a safe place to leave them, that if they exploded wouldn't take out a large chunk of a building or residential area.

Spying a water tower, he hoisted open its inspection hatch, and created a line of webbing, attached it to the package and then lowered them into the water. It should contain a blast, he thought to himself, should. After webbing it shut and making sure the glider was webbed down and powered off, he checked it was secure before swinging back out to find Huntress.

Huntress was fine, she was relishing taking that armour off Norman and finding out where her father was. Even if she had to peel it from him one plate at a time and then take him apart one limb at a time, she would find him.

She shot out line after line more pulling herself across the water as Norman sped away but as his blood had dripped from the wound she had smeared some of it on her hand, she had his scent, that foul rot that she knew was from a formula designed to harm rather than enhance and no matter where he went she would find him.

As she clicked her comms, "you coming?" she asked Venom.

"Took the glider somewhere safe, heading back now. Will find you, stay safe, love you," was all he said, and she grunted in agreement.

He had a bone to pick with Norman but nothing like her. Oscorp had taken her life from her, even if she hated him, he was still her father, she still needed to know what had happened to him. Spurred on by the thought of Norman's death, she screamed and pulled herself towards the shore, watching as Norman's boots sputtered and died.

As he landed and stumbled, she made it back to shore and he stared at her,

"What, no boyfriend to save you? I'm not afraid of a little girl," and he held out both arms and blades slid out of each gauntlet on his arms.

"Thomas Hardy, tell me where he is," she asked, maybe he's gone enough he'd just tell me. Of course for the comment about her gender, she was more than willing to beat what she wanted out of him,

"Who? Why the fuck should I care about some nobody? Are you his kid or something?" and he shrugged, "quit fucking around bug, let's dance." and he charged at her.

Huntress ducked under his swing and drove a kick into his stomach, he staggered back but swung once more, and with each wild swing, she had to fall back more and more. She knew from Liv that the blades were specially designed for the armour and could cut anything. Their main purpose was for entering buildings and they would make short work of her armoured symbskin. Thankfully for her Norman was useless. Even with minimal training, MJ was a better fighter, and the man had definitely spent more time in the boardroom than the gym. With ease Huntress weaved and dodged around his feeble blows, kicking and punching at each of the armour's weak points.

Flipping back and out of his reach, Huntress shot two webs at him and as the electricity crackled along them he just looked at her.

"What? Are you fucking kidding me?" and he brushed the webs from his torso, "a fucking taser? Really? A fucking taser?" and roaring, he charged once more.

Huntress used a similar tactic to Venom, she leapt over him and shot webs to his shoulders, and when she landed she yanked him off his feet. As the heavy armour flew through the air, Goblin locked on and fired at her, driving her to dodge and dive out of the way.

"You can't beat me, I'm invincible!" he roared and as he picked himself up, he laughed and took off into the trees.

Huntress cursed, why run? just making me chase you, dumb fuck.

Her mic clicked, "on my way back, hid the glider on a building and webbed it down. Liv warned me the place is crawling with cameras so be careful." Venom warned her, and she noted that while the park seemed to be empty, there were a lot of people watching the fight.

"Shit, V, make sure the cops don't get in the way, Goblin's still armed," and she heard him curse on the other end of the microphone.

It was now a game of cat and mouse as Goblin whooped and sped through the park, he had no care if anyone saw him as a huge suit of green armour was going to be conspicuous anywhere. He would veer off and chase a few scared park visitors but as the police were now actively patrolling and no one other than morons with cameras was stupid enough to face down the massive armoured form of the Goblin he just ran towards the park exit.

Huntress on the other hand had to be more careful. Her symbskin was already known to the police, and if she was caught in a crossfire then civilians could be in danger. She had already heard one shootout and saw the three casualties being covered.

Norman seemed more content to flee than fight, and as Huntress tailed him she caught a chance to at least hide, fading from view. She knew it wouldn't stop Osborn if his visor had any kind of sonar or thermal but for the civilians currently running and screaming, it was more than enough.

As she chased Norman through the park, she realised he wasn't running randomly as she thought, he was chasing someone. She caught a glimpse of dirty blond hair and ragged clothes from a tall lanky man she darted out of the park and up a side street and soon she could hear screams coming from there as well.

When Huntress peered around the corner she saw Goblin and a giant green man fighting, shit, Hulk she thought but has he batted Goblin with his tail she realised, nope, Curt.

Clicking her mic, "V, we have a problem, Lizard is here as well," and as she stared at the basket he was currently beating Goblin over the head with she stifled a laugh, "he must have been out shopping when everything happened."

"Stay away from them then, make sure civs are safe but keep out of it, we need Curt alive and I doubt that crappy Goblin armour will be able to do any serious damage," Venom said over the line. Keeping her distance she watched the pair scuffle. Venom had been right, even firing point-blank into Lizard's chest the bullets had no effect on the thick skin of Lizard, who was swinging with both claws and tail at the armoured Goblin.

Huntress shook her head, Curt was definitely not a fighter, much Like Venom when they first met and more often than not it was stupid luck that a blow connected. Two clowns playing bad guys, dressed up in monster suits. The only reason this wasn't funny was the monsters were real, and so were the deaths.

Lizard had just smashed Goblin into the trolley corral when he returned fire with his wrist-mounted launchers. Lizard held an arm over his face and the bullets tore up his lab coat, hissing and leaping across the supermarket's small parking lot, Goblin rolled back and kicked Lizard into the air, firing with both launchers once more.

Lizard 'oofed' as he thudded into the ground while Goblin rolled out of the way and onto his feet, jumping to avoid a tail swipe from Lizard. Spinning and following his tail he swiped a massive clawed hand and scored a hit of gashed across the side of Goblin. Even the toughened armour was no match for whatever enhanced strength Curt had gained through his transformation.

Norman swore and backed away, "We will make you pay for that, you insignificant failure." he yelled at Lizard, raising his wrist launchers and firing once more at him. Covering his face, Lizard hissed and backed away, sure of his victory against the metal-plated one.

Huntress swore as soon as the police arrived and she could see the heavily armed SWAT team gearing up to interfere in the pair's fight. The back van they arrived in reminded Huntress of the heavy ATV that the ETF had and as soon as she saw their thicker gear she knew that George Stacy had arrived.

The police were armed with smaller snub-nosed guns, but she could see a thick heavy drum underneath. Army issue heavy-duty firearms, designed to kill tanks and thick armour, had been made standard issue and she knew to stay out the way, having no idea if a round would penetrate her armour. Wanting to find a better vantage point, she crawled, invisible up the side of the building. They all wore the thicker armour John had been in, a nanofiber armour touted as being almost indestructible.

"This is the E.T.F. You are both under arrest. Stand Down or we will use lethal force to contain you." An officer in full armour hailed over a loudspeaker, while officers began to take defensive positions.

They began to set up thick heavy plates, unfolding barricades and dumping sandbags behind them. Soon four fortified positions with 8 officers all pointing their new weapons at the pair were in a standoff, while Lizard and Goblin glanced at them while keeping a watchful eye on the other.

Huntress tutted, she never got any warning before they tried to kill her but these assholes did. "V, the cops are here, what do I do?"

"Almost back. Stay out their way and see if they can handle Goblin and Lizard." Venom answered.

While he wanted payback against Norman, he wasn't so desperate as to wander into a firefight between him and the cops, plus with Lizard being there it seemed better to try and stay hidden. If Lizard escaped he could lead them back to his lair, and hopefully to a depowered Curt. He was already hiding one fugitive from Osborn, adding another didn't seem like it was too much of a strain, and dealing with a giant lizard monster couldn't be any harder than living with belligerent symbiotes.

Huntress watched as Goblin stood and waited almost impatiently as the police set up, while Lizard sat on all fours, hissing and swishing his tail back and forth, keeping himself at an angle to strike at either Goblin or the newly arrived ETF.

It was now a stand-off, and a waiting game to see who would make the first move.