Flash was taking a beating. Or rather, from the moment he started posing as Spider-Man until now, he had been constantly taking a beating.
For the most part, this wasn't Venom's fault. Among the entire Sinister Six, with the exception of Sandman and Electro, no one possessed the raw stats to overwhelm Venom, and with the Velocity Suit equipped, even Electro wasn't much of a problem.
However, Flash's combat experience was essentially zero. Compared to someone like Peter, who had built his experience from the ground up fighting ordinary street gangs since his debut, the level Flash had jumped into was simply too high—especially when the enemies included a former mercenary like Sandman.
"Spidey usually has to fight these guys? Whew. I feel like any one of them is hard to stop, and there are six of them. No, usually there are even more."
Having just escaped the torments of Sandman and Scorpion, Flash encountered an even more troublesome situation. What did he see? He saw the NYPD, outfitted with equipment designed by Doctor Octopus, charging straight at him.
My God, is this still the NYPD? Aren't you supposed to stand with an Avenger? (Even if he's a fake one.)
[Evidently, there are bad people among the police. And a lot of them.]
Venom, on the other hand, was indifferent. From the very beginning, Peter Parker never held much affection for the NYPD as a whole. Aside from a few individual officers, the entire department could be described as a cesspool. Back when Daredevil first started out, he finally gathered enough evidence for the FBI to take Kingpin into custody. And guess what?
The NYPD mobilized right on the streets to fire on the FBI, forcibly hijacking Kingpin's prison transport!
With a bunch like that, they were clearly not people one should count on.
"Alright, the flight of the imposter Spider-Man continues... Is Spidey really okay? I mean, it's been eight or nine hours, and he still hasn't shown up."
[He isn't dead. I can feel it. So, keep going.]
"Fine. It's almost dark. I hope that after nightfall, they realize Spider-Man needs rest too! What is that!"
The road ahead suddenly became incredibly massive, as if Flash had shrunk. Then, high in the sky, a gargantuan Archmage with a fishbowl for a head appeared. He reached his hand out toward Flash and let out a roar.
"You actually dare to show your face here?! Spider-Man! You shouldn't be here!"
"What's going on?! Is this magic?!!"
[Obviously not. It's just an illusion.]
Flash quickly began to retreat, only to be swatted into the ground by Mysterio. The sensation of pain was so vividly clear that he felt as if several of his ribs had broken. He couldn't help but curse, "This is a damn illusion?"
[Advanced illusions, without a doubt. Hold on, I remember the suit has EEG imaging and sonar detection. Let me turn them on for you.]
As the signals appeared, another layer of imagery composed of blurred outlines appeared before Flash's eyes, overlaying his vision. Logic told him that those wireframe outlines were reality, but the problem was...
He only knew they were outlines; he had no idea what was what.
"The tall ones are buildings, what are the low ones? Cars?"
Venom didn't know either, as he wasn't familiar with these things.
On the other hand, Flash was habitually unable to actively process this information; he still relied more on his eyes. Consequently, when the ground beneath his feet began to shift, he started running instinctively. However, the ground moved faster than him, making him doubt if he could ever outrun it.
Venom let out a helpless sigh.
[You are Spider-Man! What are you doing running? Swing, brother!]
"Oh, oh right. Forgot."
Fortunately, Venom still possessed the ability to fire webs. Flash quickly shot out a web, latching onto a building outline, and began to swing. However, Mysterio's illusions followed him relentlessly; there was no way to shake them off. Then, he saw something running toward him at high speed.
"Uh, what's that? A truck?"
Venom looked closely at the outline of the object.
No, worse. It was Rhino.
In an instant, Flash was sent flying by the impact. Fortunately, Venom protected him, and since Rhino lacked weaponry specifically designed against symbiotes, Flash merely rolled several times on the ground. After a brief moment of stunned agony, he scrambled back up.
"I have a bad feeling about this..."
[My feeling is worse. It seems Doctor Octopus has finished his business and intends to find time to deal with you. The Sinister Six seem to be converging.]
"Really? Then what should we do?"
What else could they do? Run for their lives.
Flash let out a helpless sigh and began to flee rapidly. As expected, sand and wind began to fill the surroundings; Sandman had caught up. Soon after, Scorpion and Electro joined the fray. One could say that the entire Sinister Six, minus Doctor Octopus, had appeared.
They had only one goal: to eliminate Spider-Man.
At a time like this, all Flash could do was try his best to stay alive.
It was exactly at this moment.
A strand of webbing stuck to Flash's back and yanked him back with great force, pulling him quickly out of the combat zone. Overjoyed, Flash looked at his savior, thinking Spider-Man had arrived. But it wasn't him; it was the other female Spider-hero who occasionally appeared as Spider-Man's partner.
"Oh, sorry, uh, actually..."
"I know. You did the right thing." Silk cut him off quickly. "People need to know that Spider-Man is still in the fight."
"Spider-Man is still fighting, and I am still fighting!" Although J. Jonah Jameson's face no longer appeared on television, he insisted on continuing his reports via radio. "Like I said, we will not stop fighting! Not until we liberate our city! We will press forward. Whether the enemy is an octopus or some other animal, they will not occupy our city."
"I feel like I've heard him say that before, except 'some other animal' referred to Spidey..."
"Never mind that." Cindy looked at the Sinister Six (well, five of them) and shared her thoughts with Flash. "I don't know who you are, and I don't know why Venom is helping you, but you did the right thing. We need your help now."
"Oh, yeah. Okay?"
"Follow me. We need to lose these guys and then find Spider-Man. He's going through some issues right now and needs your help."
Hearing that he could help Spider-Man, Flash broke into a smile. "Of course, no problem. We're about to sound the horn for the counterattack, right?"
Cindy remained silent. The counterattack would likely have to wait for Otto to make the first move.