Spider-Man. The House Of Venom

Across town, at Oscorp headquarters, Norman had just received the news. Aleksei had been in what, for now, was being called an accident. A propane heater leaked and exploded, killing Aleksei and destroying his office. Norman wondered though. Was Venom targeting his men as revenge for the bar? Or was one of the other big players finally making a move on Oscorp?

He pushed a button on his intercom, "Liv, get in here." He sat deep in thought. If Aleksei had been compromised then there might be a paper trail to him. No matter how thin it might be he still needed answers.

A knock at the door brought him back from his musings. "Come"

In walked a smartly dressed man, holding a tablet.

Norman scowled, “who the fuck are you?”

“I am the replacement for Doctor Octavius. She did not return from her last assignment sir.”

Norman grabbed the tablet from the man, who dipped his head and took a step backwards.

He flicked through the report. Aleksei had been blown to pieces, the building was destroyed and any evidence of Oscorp was gone as well. The dented and scorched safe was a testament to that.

The next report was a break-in at one of Liv’s hideouts. It had been stripped bare of all the equipment she thought she was being clever taking. The next was of her second hide-out. It was ruined and Spider-Man had been reported as investigating. If he found anything, there was no mention of it.

He cursed. Liv had been given specific orders, and she had still managed to circumvent them. The newer collars were better designed. He stared stone-faced but seething in anger at the reports. He should have taken her for re-education but his other project was just too important. She was now a loose thread in his plan and he hated loose threads.

He snorted and tossed the tablet back at the man, “I dont care what your fucking name is. Turn around.”

The man caught the tablet and nodded, turning.

Around his neck was a device, attached at the bottom of his skull with a small silver circle.

“Good. So tell me. How useful are you?”

Great, another fucking mutant, Norman cursed as the man described his power.

“Find out if Aleksei was stupid or unlucky. Find Olivia Octavius and kill her. Oh and get your boss. I want a meeting. You freaks are everywhere and I want to know what his plan is.”

Norman didn’t care. Right now it was an inconsequential blip in his much bigger picture. All he needed to do was make sure nobody was gunning for him, especially not Shaw.

Pouring himself a scotch and grabbing the case from his desk, he dismissed the man with a wave of his hand.

He sat staring at it, it's too important, too important.

He drank the whole glass, barely tasting it as he eyed the silver case by his desk. He might need another injection, just to make sure,

it was just too important.

⁂

Harry followed the man from his father's office. Once they were out of the Oscorp security grid he lay a hand on his shoulder, whispering something in his ear.

The man stopped and Harry smiled.

“Find out if Aleksei was murdered. File a report stating Aleksei was just an idiot to my father. Bring all evidence to me and no one else. Failure to comply will result in punishment. Comply?”

The man shook slightly for a second, “I will comply.”

As he left Harry smiled. Norman might have big plans for that idiotic glider of his, but to Harry, it was a child's toy, made by a small-minded moron.

As long as nobody was interfering in his plans he did not care who died. It just saved him from cleaning the board once he was done.

The only thorn in his side would be Venom, but he had plans for him as well.

Losing Liv was of no consequence. He had made sure she would remain silent.

It had been a good day.

⁂

Tony Stark sat in his office, holding a pen with his upper lip as she swivelled in his chair.

Pepper Potts scowled, “Tony. You’re making a bad impression”

Tony just shrugged. “Only us here Pep,” he said, as the pen dropped into his hands.

“I know,” she said with a smirk and a raised eyebrow. “Obadiah wants to set up a meeting. General Ross was unsuccessful in capturing Bruce again, and he thinks you might be able to help.”

Tony snorted, “He wants another contract. Go tell him to bug Osborn. His new suit will," Tony smiled smugly, “it won't do jack because it's trash.”

Pepper rolled her eyes, “at least be polite when you blow them off.” As she lay the latest set of reports on his desk she also left a pen drive, “oh and Ross sent over some video footage. He said if big and green isn't your thing, you might prefer black.”

Tony watched her leave and then grinned as he pulled the USB stick into his computer.

“Jarvis. Make sure Ross didn’t leave any surprises and then copy these to my personal server.”

He watched as the military failed spectacularly to contain the monster known as Hulk. He snorted and clapped as he watched Sargent Emil Blonski being swatted into a tree.

Idiot.

Even Captain America wasn’t juiced enough to take on Hulk one-on-one.

Tony sat and watched the files he tilted his head, “Jarvis, can I get some popcorn.”

After the delivery guy had been paid and Tony sat with his gourmet popcorn, “Jarvis isolate the three. Black Cat, Venom and Spider-Man, remove everything else.”

He watched as the three were turned into wireframes and then brought out to a separate screen. It only took a few moments to render them in high definition.

Tony laughed, “is that a onesie? Okay, ignore Spider-Man, he’s an idiot.”

The video clips with Spider-Man vanished leaving Black Cat and Venom. His eye drifted to Venom first. His suit was strange. Even close up it didn’t look like fabric. It flowed and there were no visible crease lines anywhere,

“Jarvis, anyone doing fluid material research?”

“Negative Sir.”

Tony frowned, “Check the backlogs. See if dad had anything. The suit looks strange. We might be able to tag him through that.”

“Affirmative Sir, running search now. Given the volume of projects, I estimate it will take five hours. Shall I narrow the search?”

Tony thought for a moment before huffing, “no, in fact, check Oscorp, Hammer and The Storm Foundation. He’s not going anywhere.”

“Shall I remain discrete, or do you wish a full search?”

“Be as discrete as possible, no tracebacks.”

“Affirmative sir. Scan time is now one hundred and twenty-three hours and seventeen minutes.

His attention was drawn to Black Cat and her very impressive figure. “Run facial and skeletal match.”

“Complete Sir. No match.”

Tony frowned. If Black Cat wasn't in the database she wasn't a criminal, No matter how JJ painted her. “She looked young, approximate age?”

Jarvis ran several scans. “Given her flexibility, and physical parameters. With her equipment and her fighting skills, I can deduce that she is an adult. There is a ninety-four per cent chance she is not older than twenty-five. With a decrease of twelve per cent, that she is under twenty.”

“And Venom?”

“Venom's skeletal structure changes from fight to fight. Age is inconclusive.”

“A Hulk?”

“Possible sir, but that would require a blood analysis to confirm.”

Tony waved a hand.”Like I could get one. So. If Black and Blacker fought, and she likes to play rough but it looks like a kid's schoolyard fight. Students?” He was looking at Black Cats impressive figure, “Do we have access to the New York student directory.”

“We do not sir, not legally anyway.”

Tony smiled and crossed his fingers over his head, “yeah, do a scan to see if she matches any student. I get the feeling that someone with her,” the clip paused on Black Cats chest, “assets would be hard to miss.”

“I have one match, Sir. A Miss Mary Jane Watson. Registered with the New York School Of Performing Arts. Her Physical parameters are a close enough match.”

“How close.”

“Eighty-Nine per cent.”

“Flag her, keep copies of her emails and find out who she hangs out with.”

“Affirmative Sir. Miss Potts has also sent you a reminder. You have a tour of the Middle East to prepare for.”

Tony rolled his eyes and waved a hand. “Yeah, Yeah. Run that search while I'm gone.”

“Of course sir. And have a pleasant trip.”

⁂

Aaron looked at his phone, his boss had asked him to infiltrate Aleksei’s group but now that was pointless. With the man dead he doubted he’d get any answers that lead to the chip. Mr Fisk had been very upset to learn his chip, and the man who took it was both dead. The only saving grace Aaron had managed to salvage from the situation was a black container.

Max might have been Aleksei’s man but Aaron and Max went back before that. Growing up in the same neighbourhood they ran in the same gang and moved up together. Max was smart with tech and Aaron was smart with numbers. So while everyone started as muscle, they both moved onto greener pastures.

Max trusted Aaron with his life, and he trusted him with three vials of a pale blue liquid. With them came files. A whole lot of blackmail material on Norman Osborn and instructions as to what the vials could do to a person.

Mr Fisk was ecstatic. One vial went to his associate. Aaron only knew him as the Black King, and Mr Fisk had warned him that it would stay that way. The other two were to be kept for emergencies. If the Powered were becoming a problem it was prudent to have the means to make their own.

While there were only three it would be enough. The file outed Aleksei and his crew as the four, so they were all gone. It was enough to tip the balance of power. Aleksei had no idea who Spider-Man or Venom were.

Reports of muggings, robberies, and even a few drug dealers were scattered. The Venom worked mainly in Manhattan. He was taking out anyone too obvious and he pencilled a note to make his people lay low for a while. Anyone working for other crews, well, they were on their own.

He had watched the videos and been impressed. If Venom walked away from a beating and still had a smile then he needed some heavy-duty hardware. Normal rounds would probably just piss him off and he added another note ‘armour piercing’.

Even the camera footage of the failed drone experiment in Manhattan was there. It upped the ante. Watching the agility and strength of the man was astounding. Normal rounds might not even be fast enough, and methods to slow him would be needed.

His shopping list grew even more. Flashbangs, netguns, explosives, and finally the new sonic weapon the army had developed.

The last part of the plan, if Mr Fisk approved was to reach out to his business partner. The reports showed that these new Enhanced were dangerous to take on alone. If he could persuade his boss, he would see if he could get one of his own. Taking on Venom alone was stupid. Taking on Venom without powers was suicidal.

Aaron knew that to take out someone like Venom, he’d need to be well-armed, and well-prepared.

⁂

George Stacy scowled as he read the report back to front. Aleksei was a thorn in his side but his death was a bigger problem.

The streets were filled with these super-powered morons. If one of them was behind this, it could mean a gang war. The police would be caught between heavily armoured mercenaries and super-powered villains. Neither would care about the civilian toll cost either. So far, none of the Powered had.

George stared at his computer screen. He needed a new plan. One that took what they knew about the Powered and used it against them.

Calling up a new document he began to sketch out an outline. He would call upon Stark, or if he refused, Hammer.

Oscorps drones were too unstable. He needed human-operated hardware and not some fancy flying toaster. Once they failed they had no backup. Even drones needed a ground crew.

First though. They needed a name.

He smiled and his fingers tapped on the keys.

The Enhanced Task Force.

Now all he needed to do was get the mayor on board.