Spider-Man. The House Of Venom

Spider-Man wasn't the only one watching Venom that night. The traffic cameras on the streets had been appropriated. So, as he moved they kept track of him, switching from one to another as he swung around the city.

It had only taken the Oscorp technology lab three days to set the drone system up. Once it was given a green light Spider-Man and Venom were now being watched. It was just a pity he always disappeared around the Sunset Park area. Black Cat was a low-priority target. While she had attacked several young men, she appeared to be un or low-powered. A fact that had not escaped Norman or his investigation of the trio.

They figured his home base must be nearby but the park had no cameras. Even a ground team had trouble tracking him and no one matching his height or build was reported leaving. It was a dead-end, but it gave them an area to lay in wait.

"Target One confirmed and tracked Sir."

"Target Two confirmed and tracked Sir."

Both camera technicians reported and Norman stood watching. He looked over to George Stacy who nodded.

"Begin Operation Takedown, non-lethal approved," Norman stated. As he walked over to the captain he lent forward, "This is the power of a glider drone, commissioner. Once you report it to the Mayor, your city will be rid of both menaces."

George wasn't one hundred per cent sold on this idea. As Police Commissioner, he had the authority to make deals like this. To allow testing of approved hardware in civilian areas. However, if anything went wrong he was sure that Oscorp and Norman would dump all the blame on him.

If it was any other time he would have said no. Venom had become more active in the area and Spider-Man was getting more and more positive press. He needed to do something to get public opinion back on his side. He kept a viewtube video loaded on his phone to remind him of that.

"Yeah, so? My little girl don't go out no more. Some crackhead robbed her and groped her, and you know what, Venom stuffed that guy in a trash can. So, no, you askin’ if I worry about him. Nah, my girl, she smiles when she sees that, he's a goddamn hero if you ask me."

Each time he watched the clip his fist clenched. When a masked thug could be made into a hero, the times called for desperate measures.

"Drone Team. Spider-Slayer One. Launch."

"Drone Team. Venom-Slayer One. Launch."

The camera feeds from the drones were displayed to the pilots through headsets. So the others could watch, there was a set of large televisions on the other side of the room.

Teams of three drones were sent. One for each villain. The pilots were using the proprietary Oscorp AI technology.  A neural interface that allowed the control of multiple drones at once.

The room watched as they flew around the New York skyline. Flying in perfect formation, Normal had asked each pilot to engage separately. Venom would be the first target, with a single drone. 

It was riskier to send one drone after each of them but Norman had insisted. He wanted to demonstrate that the drones could be used separately. He believed that neither costumed idiot warranted using more.

"Sir, we have a lock and are ready to commence engagement."

For once Norman looked over at George and he nodded.

"Commence Operation."

⁂

Venom was unhappy about Spider-Man's interference but he had been pleasant enough. Maybe threatening to reveal him was enough to get him to back off. He just wondered if Felicia would feel that same way.

He had decided that while her intel had been crappy, it was still on point. She couldn't have known that both Doc Ock and Sandman were waiting for him to make a move. He doubted that she was working for them, as she wouldn’t be tangling herself up with Gwen if she knew he was Venom.

He would find her and talk to her about.

BOOM.

Venom was sent tumbling as a concussive charge detonated half a meter away from his head. While his headset took most of the force, it now screeched in his ear.

 He gritted his teeth and waited until the high-pitched whine died. Falling he was unsure if he was now deaf, or it was just really quiet so high up.

Instinctively, Venom sent out a new line. He snagged a closer building to get a better look at whatever just attacked him. As the line hit the building it snapped and he knew something small and fast had cut it, another line and again, cut.

Dammit, he cursed, got distracted again.

First Black Cat snuck on him, and now some stupid drone. He really needed to practice his ‘paying attention’ power. He could name it later, Venom-Sense sounded way too lame.

Letting himself fall, he shot out a blanket of webs. It filled the night sky with thin wispy webs. As the small drone whizzed into them it became entangled but didn't seem too slow. It didn't matter, the web wasn't to catch the drone but now it flew like a kite, the webs trailing behind it. Venom whipped out another line. As the drone circled and came back, he let go and whipped out a second to pull himself onto the building. It cut the first but had difficulty turning to cut the second one.

Crafty, Venom thought to himself, now we just need to see how many.

Sleek and incredibly aerodynamic it made hardly any noise or vibration in the air as it shot past him. Hearing a whoosh and then a beeping he looked up and a small explosive device had been shot out, right above his head. He shot a web at it and the sticky pile bulged before deflating like a burst zit.

"Naughty naughty," he said, hissing at the drone as it continued to zip around him. Venom slowed his breathing, the earbuds were now a nuisance and he let the symbskin pull them out. Hearing the sudden rush of noise made his head hurt.

At least I'm not deaf,

It gave him a moment of pause. He closed his eyes and focused on the beating of his own heart he heard the small but noticeable buzzing. As he calmed himself the world around him burst into life.

I should have practised tuning things out, not covering them up.

He had purposefully dampened all his senses, fearing them being overwhelmed. With patience and perseverance, he wouldn't need the headset.

He could hear the various crowds, the cars, and everything was alive around him. It all instantly faded once he stopped concentrating on it. Right now he had another target.

Venom turned to face the wall and closed his eyes. He could feel the drone in the air as it moved. He counted as it approached and pushing himself off the wall he leapt.

One arm shot a web at the wall. The other targeted the drone. As the drone sped past to avoid the web he twisted in the air. He grabbed the first and shot out a third, blanketing the drone in a net.

The drone's engines whined as it pulled against him. He tugged on the first and pulled it and himself back to the wall where he stuck fast. His arm muscles strained but he gripped the wall and pulled it into his grasp.

⁂

The drone pilot stared at his screen. "Uh, Sir. Drone one is captured."

Norman cursed, “Send out drones two and three.” Venom had proven that one drone wasn’t enough. They needed to work in teams, and they would send a full team out after Spider-Man.

⁂

Venom stared at the drone he caught. It had two round turbines as well as manoeuvring jets at the back. It was flat, almost saucer-shaped with two panels on the front. There were two more underneath and he figured they were where any weapons would deploy.

Its motor whined as it tried to fly away but with the intakes webbed up and Venom's iron grip on it, it couldn't move. He studied the sleek form and thought about taking it apart at the warehouse. He huffed in annoyance. Stamped in black letters across the wings of the drone,

‘Oscorp’

He was making sure it didn’t have any countermeasures to his examination when he heard the sound.

Another two drones thrummed into the range of his hearing. He turned and stuck the first one to the wall, completely covering it in webbing to collect later.

They were the same model and they zipped past at high speed. This time Vemon was ready.

As the first drone zipped past he sent out a sticky net, knowing the second would fly into it to clear it away. The drones were brilliantly designed. They had a flaw though. They were designed to fight conventional troops. To be too fast for missiles and too tough for rifles.

Webs though. They had no defence. As the second flew through the cloud he had just made, it whined as it was covered in the blanket of glue. It plummeted to the ground and Venom caught it and webbed it next to the first one.

That just left one. This one however was now moving in a random pattern,

Not automated, he thought, human pilot.

He wondered if they used the same kind of interface that Ock used in her harness. If he could get the controller chips from them, maybe find a way to block the signal. It would definitely be easier than trying to fry their circuits.

This one was being slippery. It would dodge and weave, trying to hide behind the buildings. He was forced to play cat and mouse with it when it suddenly attacked.

Its main gun appeared from the front panels. He heard the soft whump of a projectile being fired. Avoiding them the best he could, Venom took the first one on the back of his shoulder before swinging out of the way.

Dammit, rubber bullets.

His shoulder was going numb, as his armour was designed to stop a hard impact. The soft gel of the bullet struck too large an area and deformed his armour enough to hurt the flesh underneath.

He stuck to the side of a building and flipped up as the bullets thudded against the bricks, shattering them,

Phff, so much for non-lethal. He knew if those hit a normal person it would probably kill them. Military huh?

Oscorp and the city were gearing up for Norman's big Goblin armour and glider reveal. It had leaked online already but this was a secret test. Why wouldn't Norman be happy if his glider design, even without a pilot, took out Venom?

Right, gloves off.

Even as the drone zipped and banked, Venom was learning its flight capabilities. He was much faster. He could send out two lines, like the first time, and the pilot would react to one but get caught with the other. But his first plan failed the second time he tried it.

Seeing the cloud of webbing the drone had stalled in midair, the engines cutting out, and went into free fall. Once it was clear of the cloud they fired back up and it jetted off again.

Not working, Venom though. It was easily avoiding his webs, and his claws weren't long enough, so if claws aren't.

If he could thicken his armour into plates, why not something else? Venom sent out a web and swung around the side of a building, knowing the drone would follow at a distance. Spraying out a cloud, it now only had two choices up or down, and he could hear the whine of its engines as it went up.

It didn't matter though. Venom held on with his feet on the side of the building and sprung right up. He launched himself, and then swung back, aiming not for the drone but one of its turbines,

The large blade he had formed sliced into the housing and the drone tumbled. It tried to right itself and listed to one side as the second engine adjusted to its damaged brethren.

Venom smirked and examined the long thin blade extending from his arm,

Take that bot brain,

The blade slid forward and with some webbing around the bade it was now a sword, needs more practice though

He watched the drone tilt and sputter. Smoke was pouring from the single engine as it sparked and tried to spin up once more,

Uh, that doesn't sound good.

It tilted to one side. Shuddering as its afterburners ignited, it sped straight for him. He opted to simply dive as it exploded against the side of the building.

It exploded into a fireball, lighting up the night sky and shattering a few windows.

“Not me,” he shouted, just in case Spider-Man was filming. He shrugged as it wasn't his fault. The two other drones were still webbed to the building, and lifting one, he found its camera and stared into it,

“I’m taking one as a souvenir. You can find the other one where ever your tracker says it is.”

Venom wasn't stupid enough to drag enemy tech back to the warehouse. He would stash it somewhere. Make sure there were no bugs on board, and that its transmitter was removed before he took it home.

“Nice try though.”

⁂

They watched as Venom used his superior reflexes and webbing to eliminate the drones.

Norman sighed, unhappy at their defeat. "Initiate Self Destruct."

Two drones were registered as destroyed but the third remained in its ‘offline’ status.

"Sir?" The drone pilot asked as he looked over at Norman.

“Terminate power and disconnect. He jammed the signal.”

The drone pilot undid his headset and neural link.

“I’m sorry Sir. His reflexes were too much. The control.” but Normal raised a hand, interrupting him.

“It’s fine,” he said through clenched teeth. “Repost back to Oscorp for debriefing.

The pilot knew that would either mean a demotion or being fired. He nodded and left the control room.

The group turned to the second set of monitors. They watched as the second team engaged. 

George stared at Norman. He was not impressed. “Let's hope your second attempt goes better,” he said and Norman barely hid an angry sneer.