Spider-Man. The House Of Venom

Peter decided to go for a walk. He needed some time to clear his head, to get a read on the mood of the city, and to decide if he had made the right choice. It was a lot easier when it was ‘see mugger, hit mugger with fist’.

Peter walked past a protest. It was the remains of Humanity First, but next to them was a new group. Each one had a blue armband on, and he saw their placards. 

‘People, not powers.’

Was a common theme.

New York was divided. Those who suffered under the brutal ARCA still felt it. It was superpower central, with more and more powered living there than anywhere else. It was where several new groups, following the success of Humanity First, were born. Mass rumour and misinformation were the key to their success. The main lie was that only the freaks and mutants had the special gene. The scanners were taggers, used by the government to round up those who knew the truth. JJ’s arrest and imprisonment, but subsequent release, was proof of that. They wanted to silence dissidents, as Asgard was secretly making the elite powered. Soon, the truth of the invasion would be revealed, and humanity would be enslaved.

Thor had given a speech, well a Thor speech. He told them to stop being stupid. That travelling from one state to another saw a change in accent, food, and culture. Anyone complaining was an idiot, in his words, and it changed nothing but a few laws.

He shook his head, Malik might be in jail, but his plan worked. The streets are full of idiots protesting things that dont even affect them. The laws Asgard ran under actually promoted more personal freedoms. It was just bad timing. Asgard was riding the negativity generated by the Sentinels. Nobody wanted another powerful overlord telling them what to do.

The problem was that it was believable. Asgard talked a big talk and did back it up, but the real changes would take time. It was great to say everyone was equal when you weren't the one starving or working a hundred hours to make ends meet. Until that happened, morons would talk shit, and even bigger morons would eat it up.

“Hey,” Peter heard shout, but this was New York, so he ignored it. There was always some shouting about something.

“Hey, Peter Parker!” The voice shouted again, but this time it got Peter's attention. He stopped and saw one of the placard-carrying idiots waving at him. He had no idea why they would be, he had never shown any support for anything other than the Augment community. He stopped, this should be funny, he thought to himself as the man, tall, thi blonde with a fade cut approached.

“I uh, just wanted to shake your hand, I mean.” As the man held out his hand, Peter saw why. It was artificial.

“The CLS right?” Peter asked and the man nodded, grinning, “Then what's with the,” Peter pointed up to the sign. “You know I support Augment rights, right?” he added with a small grin.

“Oh, we’re not arguing those, we just want equal rights for us.” The man lost his smile and squared his shoulders. “You know the ARCA has been used to jail a couple of my guys 'cause they count as tech-enhanced. They're going after anyone even if they were just defending themselves.”

Peter frowned, “and that sounds like a sales pitch.”

The man laughed, “Yeah,” he shrugged a little, “maybe. Here.” he took out his wallet and handed Peter a card, “Call that number. I mean, we’re getting our asses busted for using your tech right. Maybe you should look to see why.”

Peter looked at the card. It was for Alkali-Transigen, a company Peter had never heard of.

“My boss runs it, he’s got a licence from Parker Inc for building basic to modified limbs. Brian here got fined a thousand bucks, because of his arms.” The man, who still hadn’t given his name, stuck two fingers in his mouth and whistled. As several men turned he motioned to one, a large bald man wearing a tank top. “This is Brian.”

The guy was huge. Muscular and missing both his arms from the forearm down. 

“Hi,” Peter said with a smile and stuck out his hand. He felt a camera flash go off and looked for the offender. “Yeah, I see that picture on any of your websites and I’ll sue. Parker Inc does not condone fascism or the persecution of minorities in any way.” He added the last part in a much louder voice. 

Liv, I've got a press nightmare here, can you get Betty on this right now? Reavers, and some guy I still don’t know the name of who works for Zander Rice.

We really need to work on your telepathic skills Peter. I am not your secretary. But, I will call her.

“Nice to meet you, Brian, how are the arms?”

The man smiled, “They’re great. I uh was in an accident, loading a forklift and a sheet of glass took them off at the elbow. Insurance didn’t pay out ‘cause it was overtime. AIM saved my life, my marriage, and then yeah. Cops took me in 'cause I punched a guy too hard.”

“Did he deserve it?” Peter knew all about hitting someone too hard. And while they did deserve it, the outreach program for fixing that damage was part of his penance.

“He was mugging an old lady, my next-door neighbour, so yeah, he did.” Brian stepped back, offended and crossed his arms.

“Then call Matt Murdock, tell him to take your case Pro bono, and I’ll cover it. The arms aren't weapons, but you didn’t deserve to suffer because of it.”

Brian looked at the other man, who snorted and laughed, “Cops don’t send cases like us to court Mister Parker. You get a fine, and nobody contests them or it’s thirty days plus another fine. ARCA lets them get away with shit like that.”

Peter frowned, “Right, uh. You never said your name.” 

The man paused. “Yeah, I didn’t.” He looked at Brian, who gave a very small shrug. ”It’s Donald, Donald Pierce. Head of Security for A-I. I also run the Reavers.”

Peter sighed, “That doesn't inspire confidence.” His phone rang and as he flipped it over, he saw it was Liz. While she was his press officer, any legal issues went through her office. He quickly snapped a picture of the business card he had, and sent it all to her. “That was my press agent. Expect a call and maybe a restraining order. I don’t mind the press, but you guys are right next to those idiots.” Peter waved at the Humanity First group who were still shouting. “You might want equal rights, but they want people like my friends exterminated.”

Donald sucked air through his teeth, “Just wanted to say thanks Mister Parker, no offence meant.” He whistled again, “You heard the man though, trash making us look bad. Maybe the spot over on Fifth, where Stark gets coffee.”

Peter watched the small group leave. The government had once more tried to 'acquire' an Iron Man suit for military use but Stark shot them down. It was legal to use and operate the non-civilian versions, as long as you had a licence. Peter never expected that a simple artificial arm could cause so many problems.

Walking back, he kept an eye on his phone, searching for cases like Brian’s, and was shocked. There were over a hundred in New York alone. He sent another text to Liz, asking her to shift this off onto Matt. Self-defence was one thing, but people were modifying the limbs to be more dangerous. He did have to snort though, someone was offering Wolverine claws that slid back into the arm. That guy, he was definitely going to shut down. Flashlights and screwdriver fingers were fine, but built-in knuckle dusters were not. One guy even had Viewtube videos of him blowing his hand off trying to fit a gun into a finger. It needed to be shut down before someone figured out how to make it work.

Back at the warehouse, Liz was already waiting for him, as was Laura and a plate of sandwiches.

“So, bad or really bad?” he asked as he slid into his chair, lifted a plate and put a sandwich and some chips onto it.

Liz already had her lunch, as she was used to eating on the go. Being AIM’s press officer meant sudden press conferences. Especially when Peter got himself involved with something. “Meh, it's not as bad as you think. Yes, New York is fining people for using their CLS, but Matt already checked. Most of them are clear violations of the law. Self-defence cases were dismissed.”

Peter lifted his sandwich and was about to bite into it, “already? But I just met them today.” Betty looked over at Laura who was sitting in her own chair. She had one leg leaning on the seat, and her arms wrapped around it, eating. “Mift ahs well thell im,” she mumbled with a mouth full of sandwich.

“Peter, we already knew. We’ve known for weeks. The Reavers aren’t a new group,” Betty explained.

“And nobody said?” Peter asked before he bit into his lunch.

Liz laughed, “Peter, do you think they bother the CEO of Ford any time some idiots uses one of their cars for a heist? You’re the boss, not security. We told Matt and Natasha. Laura has been dealing with the street-level stuff.”

Laura gave him a thumbs up and a chipmunk girn, as she stuffed the last of her sandwich into her mouth.

“You’ve fought them before?” Peter asked. It was disconcerting to be out of the loop. Usually, he was the main lead on any fighting that needed to be done.

Laura held up a finger and drank a large glass of soda, before belching, “Just minor stuff, a few idiots here and there. Not Reavers though, just idiots with tricked-out limbs.”

“And, uh, Nat knows?” He asked.

Laura stared at him for a moment before she burst out laughing, “Yes, Dad, Nat knows. Don’t worry, I make notes and have backup. We’ve gone over this a thousand times.”

When Peter became a businessman, and Venom took a back seat, Laura created her own group. Dubbing themselves X-Force, they patrolled at night, stopping muggings and minor crimes. She was honest though, and just didn't want to work. She just liked to hit things and patrol the city. Not that it stopped Peter and Natasha from interfering. They made her study up on police protocols, vigilante laws, and citizen arrests. For not working, she still did as much report writing as the rest, all so she and her group didn't end up in jail.

Peter nodded glumly. He missed being out. “Just you know, checking.”

Laura laughed again, “And it's adorable.” She pulled the last of the chips towards her, “but it's nothing we can’t handle, and if it was, we’d call.”

Liz set her cup down, “We will need a statement though. Something nice and simple.”

“Don’t use our tech to be assholes?” Peter said and while Laura laughed, Liz was not as amused.

“Parker Inc does not condone the use of our life-changing technology to commit crime. Our systems are for rehabilitation and healing, not violent activity. Parker Inc and AIM strive to improve the lives of everyone, and cannot condone malicious acts of any kind.” Liz raised an eyebrow as she spoke. "We also have the issue of these illegal modifications. While it's a grey area, we feel that the finger gun guy proves a point."

"That modding the tech can be dangerous. So, contracts?"

Liz nodded. "Pepper is already drawing up new contracts which we can't introduce until the old ones expire. It also lets us set up a vendor program, with certified technicians, so there is a new revenue stream there.”

“And that,” Peter said with a small gin, “is why we pay you the big bucks.” He wiped his hands on a small napkin. “Schedule a press conference, before the idiot brigade do and...“

Liz slid over the typed-out paragraph she had just recited. She smiled at Peter who just rolled his eyes. “Press conference is at two. I cleared your schedule. Please don’t paraphrase  and please do not say don’t be assholes to each other.”

“Buttholes?” Peter asked.

“Too crude, douchebags,“ Laura said helpfully.

“A bit sexist though, dillwads?”

“Dillwad? What is this, the sixties? Grandad.”

“Buttmunch?”

“I like munching butt,” Laura leant back, “how about snotrag?”

Peter nodded, “Snotrag, not offensive, not sexist. So, can I?”

Peter looked over at Liz, who was not smiling. “No, and if you do I’ll schedule all your meetings with Coulson, the IRS, and the FDA for a single day.”

“Right, so, crime bad, don’t be naughty, don't call criminals assholes. Got it.”