Arc Five. Chapter One Hundred Thirty-Eight. Red, Black And Blue

Stealth was never going to be an option here. They knew they were coming and it was only a matter of time. The ATV probably had a LoJack on it and all that Venom and Wanda had control over was where in the building they entered from.

Take your pick, he thought, and Wanda simply screamed and blew a big hole in the side where the most people were. Smirking, Venom had his own plan and copying Poison, released a cloud of fine webbing into the air. As it drifted down, it began to burn and sting the throats and noses of everyone not wearing protection, spicy, he thought as the crowd panicked but, as he wanted, began to disperse.

While stealth in the building was out of the question, the last thing he wanted was Wanda and himself to be identified, and getting the civilians to disperse would help with that. As Wanda flew into the building the shots began to ring out. The soldiers below were firing into the air and now the soldiers in the building were beginning to fire at Wanda, bolts of blue energy were being pushed to one side as she quickly learned to deflect rather than absorb the energy.

If it wasn't for the fact the blue energy could disintegrate anything and the red was like a truck hitting you, Venom thought the fight was pretty but shaking his head he shot out a line, spun and feet first crashed through the floor below the one Wanda was on. Keep them busy, the largest blue glow is here and I’ll- but he never got to finish that thought.

“E iz ‘ere,” said a suspiciously French accent and a huge gloved fist thudded into Venom, driving him through a thin partition wall. A large muscular man, chiselled jaw, and shaven head shrugged as Venom shook his head. He immediately thought of Captain America when he saw him, the build, the haircut and the blue eyes are all the same.

“Great, super soldier guy,” and sprung to his feet. The man swung and Venom ducked under the fist and came up behind him, grabbing him by the collar and threw him to the ground. The man rolled and backflipped to his feet, crouching in a well practised martial arts stance. As Venom swung out he pushed himself back, pressed his hands against the wall and leapt forwards, driving a knee into Venom's crossed arms.

“I get the French thing but leaping around? Come on,” and as the man used walls and barricades to avoid Peter's blows, he realised that Nat had been right. A well-trained operative was more than a match for someone with powers, and this asshole was enhanced as well. His time with Elektra had been well spent but he needed time with someone like Nat, and he would make sure he got it for him and the rest before he attempted another mission like this. Elektra was good, but Nat and this guy were better.

Venom ducked under a sweeping kick and had to roll back as the man turned and kicked at him with his other leg. As Venom rolled onto his feet he shot out two web lines, gumming the man's arms to his legs but with a feat of strength, he simply tore them free from his uniform, uncaring that the fabric ripped. Snorting he pulled the top off, revealing the very muscular torso underneath,

“We ‘ave been waiting for u,” and reaching behind himself he pulled out a large combat knife, “u ‘r Venome oui?” and Venom silently swore as the man grinned and raised the knife. “Eye ‘ave been lukeen forwards to zeez.” and he sprang forward.

The blade arced round. and as Venom ducked under it. the man brought his knee up and drove it into Venom's side, reversing the grip on the blade he swung it back down as Venom tried to avoid them both.

To his surprise, the blade parted his symbskin and he crouched and rolled away, even as the mark filled in the man laughed. “U like? Eye ‘ave zeez just for u,” and he advanced again.

As he swung the blade out, Venom sent out a web line, gummed the back of the man's hand and twisted it. Leaping over him he heard a small pop as the arm bent unnaturally and bringing the arm up behind the man's back he webbed it there and pushed him forwards. As he stumbled, Venom sent out another line, catching his feet and as the man fell he webbed him to the floor, grabbing his other arm and twisting it up behind his back as well. As he reached out, he could feel the collars around each person's neck, and unsure if they were willing volunteers or victims as well Venom was unwilling to kill, not unless he had to.

As he grabbed his neck, he ripped the collar free. He could see one on most of the men here, only two at the back seemed to be free and as the Frenchman groaned he shook his head, “thank you,” but Venom wrapped a cord of symbskin over his neck and squeezed until the man fell unconscious.

Quickly searching through his memories he found that the man in charge, Captain Von Strucker was on this floor, hidden in a panic room that doubled as his office. Once he had dealt with the rest of the man's squad, he would find Wanda and they would deal with him.

Seeing their comrade manhandled had no effect on the collared soldiers. They had orders, and it seemed threats of violence wouldn’t dissuade them. Heightened hearing could pick up the screams and cries of soldiers on the floor above and like his partner, Venom got to work dismantling the resistance Shield was putting up.

Blasts of blue energy punched holes in office furniture as Venom leaped from divider to divider, using them, not as cover, but as a way to hide his presence from the soldiers. With the effect of the tesseract weapons well-known, Venom doubted that even he could survive being hit by one and unlike bullets had no desire to find out. Stealth was pointless, as in the cramped office environment his large frame knocked over cups and slid chairs from behind desks, instead he kept low, almost to the ground and used speed and agility, there was no point in throwing anything to get close, the energy blasts would simply dissolve them.

I’m an idiot, Venom thought, he had been obsessed with making a ranged weapon that utilised energy, which as Venom he didn’t have. He should have been relying on his webs and as he formed a small but solid ball of webbing he let out a small but stretchy line, sticking it between his forefinger and thumb. He took aim and let it ping through the barricade the soldiers had set up, ha, take that you old shit, not the only one who can use ball bearings. As he slid across the floor he took aim at the bottom of the barricade, knowing the soldier’s feet and shins would be less protected than their torsos, but having bashed his legs against plenty of junk, tables, and other leg high objects in the past, no less painful to be struck.

The main problem Venom had was that the soldiers, once they came under return fire, began to systematically sweep areas of the room. With the blue clouds of energy disintegrating anything they touched, even a small group was managing to remove any hiding spot he might have, and with enough firepower keep him contained in one area.

Snorting, as this was exactly what he just warned Wanda of, he instead stuck several web balls to his arm and then crouching in the corner, fired off the first one at knee height.

As he heard the first crunch he dived, rolled and fired, then again until all five of the balls were shot. He could see the thermal images of the men, rolling on the ground clutching at what he hoped here shattered thigh bones.

Waiting several moments, he couldn't see the bright glow of a tesseract weapon being pointed and decided to take the chance.

Darting from side to side, his stealth held as he made his way across the large office to the blocked corridor, behind the steel foldable barricade. Whoever was hiding hadn't even bothered to rescue their men, leaving them to their fate.

Collared foes were webbed down and the collar removed, uncollared were not so lucky, Venom webbed them down and twisted, a move reminding him of the second person he had killed. Tracking the heat he spied a door with a warm handle. The room itself was shielded as nothing was registering, its walls colder than the surrounding area, steel plates probably, anti bombardment armour or some kind of bunker.

Venom was about to send a mental message to Wanda when he heard a sickening crunch noise, a gargled scream and a pile of ‘something’ rolled down the stairs to the floor above. 

Wanda had been merciless, as soon as the first soldier fired on her she had lost all pretence of kindness to even those that Venom told her were collared, her control over her powers was greater now, she had been able to conjure several shields at once, each capable of absorbing a blow form the energy rifles while her other hand conjured whips and nets of her own energy, capturing and crushing anyone who fired at her. She had been kind though and only those who attacked her had been dealt with. 

The dead lay in pools of their own blood, and she was uncaring to those who had murdered her own people. To those who were responsible for the waves of violence and destruction that plagued Sokovia every day. Peter might be capable of seeing past the collar but Wanda knew that these people were not innocent, and each of them paid for their betrayal of Sokovia with their lives.

The words he had spoken echoed in her head, more of an influence than she realised,

She had great power and with that came great responsibility.

Her father had great power, and he hid,

Her brother had great power, and he fooled around,

Venom had great power and he stuck his neck out, used it to do what was right. Even if he was judged wrong after.

She was not going to hide like her father, she would find those responsible for her mother’s death and make them pay. Peter would not be alone when he faced his judgment. She would be there with him, equally as guilty and when the dead rose up to accuse her of murder, she would point to their own hands, she would point to the blood they had spilled. She would be by his side no matter what, she would do whatever she needed to, to aid him, and if he went too far, she would be there to stop him.

Unseen the last remnants of the yellow energy danced around her and for a brief second her eyes flashed bright yellow and then faded, hidden by her own aura. Red energy crackled around her like a cloud of fire, burning with a deep hatred of those who had killed her mother, of those who had enslaved her. Stretching out her senses she felt that her floor was clear, she had killed every person and now it was time to find the man truly responsible.

She floated down the stairs and saw the webbed bodies and the smashed collars, soft, she thought but if that was his choice then she respected it. As she floated down the corridors she felt for his mind and smiled as she saw him, standing in front of a seemingly well-reinforced door.

With a grunt and a flick of her hands, the red energy encapsulated the entire wall, door and all and with a heave, it was pulled free and crushed into a ball, which she simply rolled down the corridor.

“Captain Von Strucker, you owe me a debt,” she said menacingly at the cowering man in the room.