Arc Two. Chapter Fifty-One. Along Came The Rain

"I'm a lot of things, but a murderer, well, that ain't one of them." Sandman shook himself after stretching up to the roof, it made him use his sand powers and altering his body still felt wrong. He shook himself off, the content gritty feeling was irritating, he didn't like it, it was coarse and got everywhere.

"You're still a scumbag who attacked a young woman. So what if you got your ribs broken? You deserved it." Peter knew he needed to find a way to defeat Sandman, without a source of fuel to rebuild his symbskin he was vulnerable to the heavy blows of the man.

"That money was for my daughter!" Sandman yelled back, "if Alexsi hadn't taken her in, she'd have died, and you, you're gonna fuckin pay for that." He banged his fist together and advanced on Venom, thumping one fist into his side and Venom caught the other, "try that goop shit again, I dare yah," he taunted, and while Venom knew he'd probably thought of a counter, he wasn't the only one.

"You can't hurt me, flesh bag," and as Venom punched out his fist went straight through Sandman's body, who twisted, grabbing it, and slammed Venom into the roof, "you ain't gonna win, I'm not like you, I'm more than better." He punched down and Venom rolled to one side and zipped out a web, catching the side of the building and hauling himself forwards, kicking both feet at Sandman.

His arms shot forwards and Venom ducked under one to be greeted by the other, the sand flowed around him, holding him in a pincer.

"My daughter almost died cause of you, I'm this freak cause of you," Sandman shouted at Venom as he punched his face again and again, "I hate you, I hate you," with each punch Venom felt dizzier and dizzier.

Begin held with the pincer-like grip he needed to get free, he'd worked with Gwen to gain a sizable quantity of hydrofluoric acid, to melt Sandman, but he hadn't brought any with him and even if he had the quantity needed would have been noticeable. He began to thicken his symbskin, thickened and pushed back against the sandtrap holding him and then, with an inch extra, he shed it, allowing him to duck down under the torrent of particles and leap backwards.

While he was now vulnerable though, shedding his symbskin had freed him he thicken the last of his symbskin on his hands and with a push, coated sandman in the entirety of the skin. As Sandman tried to uncover himself Venom fired two web balls at his feet and as the man fell the skin soaked into him trapping him on the roof.

"Now, you will answer us, or we will make you a permanent statue."

"So, what do you want then? I ain't interested and I got nothing, I'm muscle, not the brains, you want Ock or Alexsi for that, but oh, you killed one and the other escaped, so tough shit, you get nothing." Venom internally sighed in relief as Sandman began to talk. That was it, he was spent, no more tar to glue him down and if the fight had gone on much longer he would have needed to run.

Unhappy with the answer, he swiped his claws through Sandman's arm, scattering grains from it. Sandman cried in pain each time he did it, even if he was silicon-based now he still felt it, and Venom hoped as he reduced his mass it was bringing him closer to his end.

"Where is Electro?" Venom asked first but Sandman shrugged,

"If he ain't here then I dunno, ask Ock, she's in charge, ask her," Sandman yelled. Venom sighed, he was hoping he knew but even if he didn't, Felicia wanted to know what they stole, hoping for a lead on her father.

"What did you steal and why?" Venom asked.

"That? How cares, it's gone, Ock took that weeks ago."

Venom sliced into his arm but as it dropped to the roof he ignored it and held his claw over Sandman's throat. "I won't ask again."

Sandman felt his core ache, there was barely any sand left in his body and it was getting harder to remain whole, Venom wasn't messing around.

"Okay, okay, it was a chip. Ock wanted it for something her boss was building, that's it, that's all I know, it's a thing about the size of a pack of cards, in a case, that all. Man I'm just muscle please, I have a daughter, please, she ain't got no one else." Sandman was at the end of his tether, Venom was so close to killing him but all he wanted was to keep his daughter safe, Alexsi had promised. "Please man, please?"

"We are generous unless we see you again. Tell Ock we are coming for her." Venom stood, towering over Sandman he spied a tall mast in the distance and shot a line out to it, leaping upwards he swung forward and Sandman sighed with relief as he vanished off into the skyline.

"Fuck me, that was scary, Doc you there? Or do I have to get this shit off by myself?" he yelled and waited.

With no reply Sandman knew she had run as soon as they started fighting, "fucking shit," he said to himself, slowly trying to grind the sticky tar out of his granular body. It would be slow but he could do it.

Unseen by Sandman, a hidden figure had recorded the whole fight, taking notes on the possible weaknesses of this new villain. Sandman was by his own admission part of the crew that destroyed the diner after robbing the bank. Spider-Man had recorded his confession and, after making sure he got some really good shots, approached the villain.

"Oh, shit, another one, what the fuck you want?" Sandman asked this new spider-themed idiot, "what? You copying the boy in black there? Can't think of anything original."

"First, he copied me, and second, thanks to your confession I think you'll be spending more time in jail, uh Sandman was it." Spider-Man flicked open a phone. "Yes, this is Spider-Man. I have the villain Sandman webbed to a roof at," he leaned over the building and checked the name of a shop nearby "Madison and Jones yeah, 9th, near the docks, that's right, no, he's not going anywhere, thank you, officer." Clicking the phone closed he took a few pics with the Sandman and then paused for a second.

"Uh, want to do an interview? Maybe I can get you a better deal if you're helpful?" Spider-Man offered.

"Look man, fuck you, it's bad enough I'm covered in Venom gunk but now I gotta listen to your crap. Get lost," Sandman spied the same tower Venom had, would water help get rid of this damn sticky crap faster? He'd reabsorbed enough of the sand from the ground to at least attempt it. It was better than the alternative, being stuck with this idiot while the cops got here.

Taking a deep breath, unnecessary but still comforting, Sandman extended his arm as quickly as he could, Spider-man jumping back and shot two webs at him, they did nothing compared to Venoms but he got an A for effort. Sandman had grabbed onto the lower support of the water tower and, pulling with all his strength, brought it down upon himself and the costumed clown.

Several thousand gallons of water poured from the huge tower and Sandman found himself free from the roof but washed away still stuck together, the dilapidated roof tiles coming loose with the water sloshing over them.

Spider-Man looked on in horror as the water crested a huge wave towards him and before he could get a web out, it slammed into him, smashing him against the side of the roof edge. Lifting him up, the water cascading down the side of the building into the street where cries of distress and anger soon filled the air.

People, cars, dogs, and all sorts of debris was washed down the street by the flood, Sandman used the chaos to make his escape into the sewers, still stuck together with the tar.

Spider-Man held on to the side of the building, his grip stronger than the currents but he soon heard the police sirens in the distance, followed by an ambulance and fire trucks, thankfully the emergency services could be called upon to take care of the mess Sandman had made.

His suit full of water squelched as he staggered down the alley. Bruised and battered by water, he had no strength left in his arms to use his webs to escape across the rooftops. Soaked and dejected, Spider-Man limped home, swearing at both Venom and Sandman.

Peter had roped in everyone for the heist and they slipped in quietly, posing at clean up to empty the house, Peter using Liv's name to bypass the cops, Gwen hiding under a cap to avoid anyone she recognised. MJ had smacked Peter when they saw the mess and he rubbed his arm, "what? This wasn't me," he defended himself and after explaining they were all quiet, "I left Sandman on the roof, so I guess he escaped."

The quartet was quiet after then, loading machine after machine into the back of a truck, Gwen giddy with excitement at some of the high-end medical equipment. Taking the back streets they avoided any detection and as Gwen and Felicia were the only two with licences they returned the truck leaving MJ and Peter alone.

"This, this doesn't bother you, Peter?" Muse was out helping Peter lift the machine into their storeroom.

Even without using Venom, he was strong enough that with super-strength, they could manhandle them all. "No, these are stolen Muse, and who knows what she was doing with them."

"That's not the point Peter, even if they're stolen you're stealing them too, it's not cancelled out."

Peter put down what looked like a mass spectrometer, "MJ what's really wrong? I mean, you know I go out and stop muggings and stuff, so what gives?"

"That's just it Peter, you hurt them. Are you doing it for some sense of revenge against Flash? or some kind of vent for all your anger? cause it's not right Peter, it's not right."

He'd had this talk with himself but now, "MJ, if they took the chance they wouldn't be mugging innocent people, and yes I hurt them and yes it's both those things, revenge against people like Flash, people who think they can get away with hurting someone else because they're better. What gives them the right to take someone else's purse? What gives them the right to scare someone so bad they never go out again? Look I get it, I do, Flash didn't deserve to lose his legs, but I didn't do that. That wasn't my fault and would I go out and hurt Flash? no, I wouldn't, but he got what he deserved Muse, just like those scumbags do."

Muse held one of her arms across her chest, "but Peter, I get these urges, to you know, go find my dad, to make him feel the pain he put me through, to hurt him, just for you know, hurting me."

Peter moved in and hugged her, "and if you want to then that's up to you, but that's it MJ, it's up to you, no one else. Muse can talk and whisper but at the end of the day it's up to you."

Muse wrapped her arms around him, "thank you." Muse whispered in her mind,

but we would help if you did and so would he.

Liv had watched Venom and Spider-man trade blows and had avoided the majority of the fight, She had tracked the core of Sandman down into the sewers and while it was unpleasant she had taken the malformed Marko back to Oscorp to reform. Harry had yelled and smashed the useless samples she had presented to him, it wasn't her fault that Venom's skin and blood seemed to degrade almost immediately, the black goo becoming dried dust after he examined them. She kept his identity to herself, he hadn't asked so she didn't have to tell, and after he dismissed her she headed back to her home to check the rest of her data.

The door had been forced open and attached to the inside was a note

I borrowed some things – Venom

and a heart, crudely drawn and inside there was nothing. Venom had taken everything he could. Her sample cases, her medical fridges, the mass spectrometer, every inch of the place was cleaned out, the rotten bastard even took all her kitchen appliances. He had left a single cup noodle next to her kettle, another note,

bought you dinner to make up for fucking you

She swore and cursed his name, "damn moocher." She worked hard to steal all those machines from Oscorp, and now he'd come in and just lifted them. She eyed the cup noodle, he at least had the decency to buy a very nice brand of Japanese instant ramen, with a little sachet of dried shredded chicken inside with a generous helping of dehydrated vegetables. Sighing, having lost to a kid she filled the kettle, at least he bought me dinner, sighing as she remembered the last time someone had done that was over 16 years ago. Damn little bastard, but still, she'd finished her work elsewhere and losing all the junk she'd collected wasn't too big a deal.

Calling up the lock screen of her phone she entered the pin,

will deal with Venom in two days, send Sandman to help – Liv

She got a smiley face back from Harry, "damn kids," she said to nobody as she stirred her noodles.

As they drove back to the rental place Felicia and Gwen shared a quiet moment. "Come on Gwen, now or never. Might as well rip the bandaid off and get him off your case," Felicia said, sitting in the cab of the pickup they'd rented.

"Easy for you to say, Felicia. Your dad was okay with you coming out." Gwen took the last turn off and they were outside her home, her old home she corrected herself, "this is stupid, he'll freak out."

Felicia leant for a kiss, "yeah but he'll get over it." Felicia neglected to mention that her father was already missing when she'd discovered her sexuality and didn't know.

"Ahem," George Stacy stood in the driveway, keys in hand, watching the pair "Gwen?"

Gwen shrunk back down, "shit shit shit."

Felicia took a deep breath, "band-aid time."

"Hi, I'm Felicia Hardy, and as you can see, I'm Gwen's girlfriend." She stuck out her hand for George to shake and after staring at her he took it, "Gwen?"

"Shit", she muttered and sat straight up, "yeah dad. Come on, can we at least talk privately." She pursed her lips and shook her head, this was not how she wanted this to go.

"No need, I get the gist of what's happening, so Peter?" he asked.

"Still living with him but no dad, not dating Peter," she raised her eyebrows as he nodded,

"Well then, uh Felicia, why don't you and Gwen come inside. I got fresh danishes."

As he unlocked the security door to their driveway Felicia batted Gwen's arm, "See?" she said and followed George inside.

Gwen sighed, she probably could have brought home anyone and as long as they weren't Peter Parker her dad would be happy. She wasn't happy about lying to him about it but then again she wasn't exactly forthcoming with her new alternate identity. Letting her dad think she was gay rather than dating Peter was okay, plus, free danishes and at the word, Poison stirred and purred

sugar sugar yum yum she said in her mind.

Yes, baby sugar sugar yum yum, shaking her head and smiling, maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.

Across town Harry was sitting in the office of his father as Liv sent him a text, as inconspicuous as he could he hit an emoji and sent it back to her, he hated those damn things but Norman would get even pissier than he was already if he saw him on his phone. Harry watched his father inject himself again and he allowed himself a small smile.

"Harry," Norman said, "ah uh, these allowed me to finish the Goblin Armour and Glider. The test is next week. Are you, excited boy?"

Norman threw his arm around Harry, in unusual showing affection, Harry spoke "Of course father, with the new armour specs and the glider, the military contracts granted to Oscorp will make us all very rich." Normans face darkened

"Make me rich son. You've still not gotten over that small genetics hurdle yet, have you? I said, once the WSC sets its mind on something it never changes it, genetic manipulation is only going to be allowed to treat illness, no money in curing the sick son, make money prolonging the disease."

Harry had heard this lecture before, right after Norman had shut down the Oscorp genetics research lab and before Harry had started another one, hidden within the building. His father, of course, was a hypocrite, the serum he so readily pumped into his veins was the result of that lab and had been stolen from research done by others, of course, Norman would never admit that.

"Now now, don't scowl, it'll all be yours eventually. Come, have a drink with me." Norman poured himself and Harry a scotch, which Harry hated, it was sour and burned, if anything he preferred the mellow taste of cognac or brandy. Sniffing the glass he took a sip, "to success," and his father raised his glass,

"To success," Harry echoed, knowing full well what the results of the test would be.