Spider-Man. The House Of Venom

With the guards gone, the small group made their way to the large door they had seen in Peter's memory. It wasn't hidden and was just as clean as the rest of the facility. There were a few broken devices nearby, but nothing that screamed danger. Shadowcat phased up and touched the door, and then the wall.

"Nope, there is a field of some kind going through both the door and the wall. I can't phase through it."

Venom stepped forward and pressed a hand to the door. "It's been sealed shut. I can break through but it will take time and it's not like there are a lot of places to hide."

Jhalia looked at Venom who just shrugged. "Then we need a distraction. We cannot allow this door to remain shut if it is a secondary base to the Golden City."

"The whole team or just big and scary?" Hexen asked.

"Neither. We will use the team two. It will give us a much better idea of what we are dealing with." She laughed, "Plus, Huntress can use her powers to make it a much more interesting game."

"We copied all that. We are scouting out the main area first but there is a secondary base back here. Octave says no more than six months ago," Widow reported.

Absurd, I would have noticed, Charles interrupted.

Octave snorted over the link. As you were overseeing the construction of Avalon I doubt you would have realised. You are not infallible, just as Erik never felt the metal as he wasn't paying attention.

And kindly remain out of the conversation. This is a briefing as to our further scouting, not an accusation, Jhalia added curtly.

"Can you scout it without being detected?" Jhalia asked.

Widow scoffed, "Of course, but the whole point is to be seen. We'll do our mapping and then poke the bear a few times, from different locations. Once the alarms go off, if they have any sense, they'll lock the whole base down and try to flush us out. We can use Hex to move around and then escape."

"Hexen, are you okay with a change of team?" Jhalia asked. Scouting a relatively safe area was much different than avoiding enemy soldiers.

"I am prepared to fight if that is what you are asking. My Sokovia was not a peaceful place."

"Then swap. We can take Octave and see if she can open the door without punching it," Jhalia added with a small laugh.

"I was going to try and pick it, not just smash it." Venom added huffily, "I do have a degree in electrical engineering."

Hexen was already opening a portal and walked through after Octave had joined them.

"I know dear, and it's adorable. When you have your Masters, then we can talk." Octave said as she approached the door and rested a hand on it. "Nope, he is right, the lock has been fused, and it's probably thousands of years old. Acid webs or just punching."

Venom snorted, "Shadowcat, this might be a bit weird, but hold out your hand." Shadowcat stepped forward and Venom held out his own. A small section of symbskin slid off and he extruded a small dollop of acidic webbing onto it. "Right, Phase it there, and leave it."

It looked gross, and Shadowcat was glad she had a helmet on, but she did as she was told. "So, why the handful of spooge?"

Octave snorted, but Venom shook his head. "The energy field is locking the door, but," he pointed to four sections. "There are energy junctions at these points. That one is the main feed. We can't unlock the door, but destroying that one shuts the field off. It looks like it's part of a fire control system, shutting down the field so anyone inside isn't trapped." He tilted his head, "But what do I know? I just have a PhD."

Huntress laughed over the comm as they moved into position. "Yeah. A pretty huge dick, which Liv definitely has a mastery of."

And you told me off for not being professional. I am sensing more aliens approaching your position. If you have a plan, I suggest you implement it now. Charles warned them.

"We are a go for cat and mouse. Radio silent until the mission is over," Widow commed and then her channel disconnected.

"Right, Can you phase through the door now, Shadow?" Venom asked and she nodded. In a single line they phased, each person holding the shoulder of the one in front. They stopped as they saw what was behind the door.

⁂

"If they're melting the lock, why have us run around to create a distraction?" Hexen asked.

"So they get peace to explore. The junk around the doorway were blasting tools, a couple of bladed machines which were saws, and a few pry tools. Most of the stuff is pretty universal. Whoever is here was trying to get in, and I be they had an alarm on that door as well."

Hexen nodded, "Right, so they will know Venom and the others have disabled the field."

Huntress shrugged, "Maybe, maybe not. But better safe than sorry if a patrol waltzes up while they're in there."

If I may make a suggestion, Charles interrupted.

Sure, but there isn't much to add.

I agree, but. They could feel the smugness. I suggest Wanda is brought back here by Blink. I can relay your location to her and she can move you around from place to place. While Wanda requires a line of sight to open her portal Blink does not. As long as she can see it, she is able to move there.

Sorry, Professor, I do not need to be able to see. A sling ring uses intent and focus. As long as I know, I can create an aperture, Hexen explained.

Ahh, very well. I shall leave you to it.

No, your idea does have merit. It would remove one person from the board while allowing Blink to move another. I say yes, Widow answered. We should also start destroying stuff. If we hit a few systems then the loss of power where the others are won't be as important.

"So, smash and run?" Huntress asked.

"Smash and run," Widow replied. "But not too much, I don't want to kill anyone. We need numbers and a distraction, not a pissed-off army up our asses." You can't differentiate minds up here Professor?

Not alien minds no, not without more training. When they congregate it's just like static, which gets louder the more there are.

“Smash and run it is. Comms to local only, telepathic to Charles and Blink only. Ready?" Widow asked and received four readies in reply.

Two portals opened and Widow and Huntress both vanished and sped through. Hexen opened a portal to where Blink was and the pair sat, opening and closing their own type of portals.

All that was left to do was count the number of aliens and then evacuate once Venom and the others had finished.

⁂

Behind the large door was instantly recognisable as Kree. Jhalia swung around a huge torch, scanning every corner of the corridor as they walked. The inside was covered in a thick layer of dust, which they carefully avoided disturbing. Shadowcat even phased, as it became apparent it wasn't dust. It was the remains of dead Kree.

The bodies had been left where they fell. With dark stains surrounding mummified flesh, it was still gruesome. Blood had pooled, or sprayed, as every one of them had either cut their throat or had it done for them. Most still held the blades in their long dead fingers.

"Yeah, next time you want to investigate a base, I'm staying at home," Shadowcat remarked as she stepped over a body. She hated phasing through people, but the thought of a corpse was even worse.

"It could be worse," Octave remarked, "We had reports of a zombie from Logan when he went on a mission."

Shadowcat stopped, "You're kidding? You are fucking kidding right? Nope, not funny, not funny at all."

"Uh, we can go over that mission later. You okay? We can have Blink or Hex recall you to the base if you're gonna puke," Venom asked, concerned Shadowcat was okay.

"Really! She's not joking, Zombies are real?" Shadowcat asked the hint of anxiety in her voice making it higher than normal.

"It was one zombie, affected by strange radiation. These guys are dead, but," Venom slid a huge blade from his arm, "I can decapitate them if you want to be sure. I mean, it worked on the vampires."

"VAMPIRES!" Shadowcat yelled, "No, no fucking way. Now I know you're just making fun of me."

Peter, please stop antagonising Kitty. We do not share all intelligence with our students and even when we do we make sure they can be attended to if they panic. Kitty is not a fan of horror movies, so please. Charles asked over the link. I will brief her when she is not in the middle of a mission.

Venom sighed, "Zombie, one, and it's not getting to Earth ever, and yes, Vampires are real. A biological agent combined with an activated X-Gene. Just another Augment, like someone might call you a ghost, we just called them vampires."

"So no garlic or crosses?" she asked. Augments were bizarre and varied, but nobody would call Hank a werewolf to his face.

"Nope but fast, strong and dust in UV light. and yeah, uh, blood, but donated seems to be okay." Venom explained, "You see a lot of weird stuff, but there's always weirder."

He couldn't see but Shadowcat rolled her eyes, "Oh yeah, that makes me feel so much better." She paused, "I do have one question though," everyone stopped, "Where are we going?"

Venom laughed, "I'm following the power lines. The shield was powered by a reactor that's still active."

"And then what? I mean, I get we need to identify these ruins and make sure they are offline but, so? I mean, the aliens already have advanced tech, so who cares if they get more?" Shadowcat asked.

I would also like that answered Peter. What is your mission here, as you have been very evasive? You said breeding programs, what did you mean?

Venom turned to Jhalia, who nodded and it was her who spoke. The machines that made Apocolypse, that made the X-Gene are safely stored in Wakanda. We believe from the manifest that there are more in this base.

Shadowcat shrugged, "So? We're already Augmented."

But Humanity isn't. You are worried the aliens want to finish the original experiment, Charles added.

Or worse, use it on themselves. We do know Asgardians have powers, but only certain members. Not every Asgardian is a god, most are just stronger and tougher. Do we allow an alien species to begin using this technology? I am the ruler of Wakanda and the inheritor of that legacy, and I say no. I do not know your plan Charles, but you will not interfere. It will be safely contained, and never used.

And I agree. I said, and I mean what I said, we are not that experiment, we have evolved, Humanity has evolved. Being made or being an accident has no bearing on what we are today.

"Sorry to interrupt your speeches, 'cause we all love a good speech, but we're here. The power is flowing out of this room," Venom said. The door was thick, with signs all around. As nobody spoke or understood Kree, they were just gibberish. "We maybe should have brought Carol." He shrugged and placed a hand on the door panel, "At least this one isn't locked." A section lit up as Venom's powers connected and the door slid open.

Inside was a treasure trove of alien machinery. Most of it bore a striking resemblance to some of the machines they had liberated from Oscorp. Another reason to keep it out of enemy hands.

"We cannot allow the Asgardians access to these machines," Jhalia said and Venom nodded.

Venom paused for a moment. It was going to get him in trouble, but it would be so worth it. "Hey, Your chamber, it's really big right, for testing spacecraft?" Jhalia nodded. "Then I have an idea."

⁂

"They fell for it?" The strange voice asked. It was a mix of male and female as if it hadn't decided which to be.

"Of course they did. We both knew Parker couldn't resist a mystery. He must think we're idiots though. Who taps a strange reactor and leaves a giant cable running right to your secret base?"

The other voice laughed, "I know. They did, however, make a mess and we have a new problem. The second team they sent vanished, and we now have evidence they have more powers than we were told.”

“More powers? Explain.”

“The first team seemingly teleported from place to place before creating mayhem. They ignored key systems and instead destroyed items creating an annoyance."

"Annoyance?"

"Lightswitches, door handles, that kind of thing. Mainly small but time-consuming items that will need to be replaced. We also lost track of Venom, and have no sign of Gwen Stacy. Whoever these Symbiotes are, it is not Peter Parker.”

“Was a black Symbiote not sighted?”

“Yes, but unless Peter can change gender, it was not him. The Symbiote hosts large mammary glands indicate it was not male. We identified three distinct Symbiotes. Black, dark grey with strange feline ears, and a lighter grey with red markings. These do not match our records. And all are female.”

There was a small pause, “We have a nest then?”

“It would appear so. Unless our intel was wrong.”

The second voice laughed, “No, I doubt that. Unless they become a threat then there is nothing we can do. Maintain distance and observe only. Is there anything else?”

“Phase one is complete, do we move to phase two?”

There was a soft laugh, "We have the go-ahead to move to phase two. Our people are in place but Doom is still holding onto hope he can resist us. Are there any other matters to report?”

“There is that door. We still can't get through it. We need to know if they have been here before."

“We do, but it is not a priority. Once we're finished in Latveria we can find out where it goes. Until then, leave it a tomb."