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Dante dialed Felicia's number. The call connected before the first ring finished—she must have been watching the broadcast live.
"Darling!" Felicia's bright voice burst through the speaker. "Wave at the camera."
He glanced at the news helicopter hovering closer and raised a hand in a lazy wave. The glinting lens captured it all. "What's the point?"
"Blow a kiss," she said, as if she were requesting something completely reasonable. "Give your adoring public something to remember."
"Fuck off," he replied with a short chuckle. Her ability to flirt in the middle of a crisis was impressive. "Can you help the people on the island? Gwen's handling it, but she could use some backup."
There was silence for a brief moment. Contemplative silence.
When she spoke again, her voice had lost all playfulness. "I came here for you."
He didn't need to see her face to face to understand the underlying meaning. She wanted to show off her combat power, that she could fight. Last time, he had forced her to drive Gwen and Amy to safety. He almost repeated the same mistake again. To her, it might look like he did not believe she could stand beside him when the danger became real. She would go back into her shell if he stopped taking her seriously.
Besides, it would be unfair if he only favored Silvija.
"Come here with Silvija. Let the others handle evacuation."
The silence stretched for half a second. "Really?"
"Really."
"Got it~. Give me a moment to explain it to Silver."
He pocketed his phone and waited. Half a minute later, Felicia kicked the SUV door and then jumped onto the roof. She drew her grappling hook, aimed at the bridge's support beam, and fired, using it to swing in a long arc over the water.
She had chosen to wear her symbiote suit again, tweaked with cameras in mind. The black material had covered the upper half of her face completely, leaving only her mouth and jaw exposed. Her platinum-blonde hair, which was normally her most distinctive feature, was wrapped in symbiote matter. Her hair trailed behind her in thin, snake-like strands.
It was not a perfect disguise, but it was more than enough to prevent the public from connecting her to the woman they had recently watched get possessed on live footage.
'The other version was sexier.'
"This one is beautiful," Venom said in its resonating voice. "A perfect mate for the host."
'Every powerful woman is perfect for you, dumbass.'
"Strrrength above all," Venom growled. "One is worthless without it."
The experience with Norman had pushed Venom to the extreme.
Felicia hit the first boat and launched herself toward the next one. Boat to boat to boat, closing the distance with reckless speed.
More movement from the SUV drew his attention.
A silver figure burst from the vehicle. Silvija followed Felicia's path without wasting a single second. Her symbiote, Agony, did not sit covering her body like Felicia—it was underneath her silver tactical suit, making her silhouette look distinct from Felicia. Her long silver ponytail whipped behind her, the only part of her left untouched, as she pursued Felicia.
"Dante, stop slacking."
The voice snapped his attention around.
Natasha was standing on the deck, arms crossed in a pose of nonchalance, utterly unbothered by the five symbiotes clinging to her body. One had its jaws locked on her shoulder. Another gnawed uselessly at her forearm. A third wrapped around her legs like a python. Two more clung to her back, clawing and biting aggressively.
Meanwhile, Laura was a black blur across the deck, dodging and weaving through the cluster of symbiotes. His inactivity didn't bother her. If anything, the spring in her movements suggested she was having a blast with her new mobility.
'I should wrap it up and check up on Gwen's father.'
Otherwise, the old man might kick the bucket before he even had a chance to heal him.
He jumped down and grabbed the first symbiote clinging to her shoulder and ripped it free. Venom's tendrils surged out to pierce the weakened creature and drag all five into his mass.
"We've got more help coming."
"Great. This is taking—"
Her flaming eyes flickered with sudden awareness, and she shoved him hard in the chest without hesitation. He staggered sideways just as Felicia came hurtling through the air, trying to surprise him.
Natasha didn't think of Felicia as an ally, but as a special variant. Nobody would in her situation. Her burning chain lashed out to deal in response.
The moment he registered the Hellfire-covered chain whipping toward Felicia, his body moved on pure instinct. He snapped out a tendril and caught the chain mid-swing, wrenching it away from its trajectory before it could make contact. Hellfire would hurt Felicia like hell. He wasn't about to stand there and watch that happen.
Despite his own resilience, the instant of contact felt like fire had burned him directly.
"HURTS," Venom howled through their connection. The pain wasn't just limited to flesh as Hellfire burned could burn souls. "IT BURNS. IT BURNS INSIDE."
Felicia twisted mid-air and flew in his arms, then rubbed her face in his chest. "I appreciate that, Darling~"
He shook his head. 'You've handled worse.'
"That is true." Venom forced itself to calm down after hearing his words. "Been through worse in the lab."
'Don't get sentimental now. We'll fuck up Norman soon.'
"FUCK UP NORMAN."
Natasha cleared the remaining symbiotes from the immediate area surrounding the deck with a powerful swing of her chain, then turned to glare at him. Before she could ask anything, Silvija gracefully landed beside him and glared at Natasha.
"You're out here proving that there are no eternal enemies."
Felicia left his arms to stand beside him. "He skipped the first few steps and made her his bride."
"That's just a joke people started," Silvija said, clearly unwilling to let Dante tangle with a SHIELD agent. It would unnecessarily complicate things. "It's not meant to be taken seriously."
Natasha clenched her fist tighter around her chain. "We'll have plenty of time to talk after we deal with this."
"Agreed," Silvija said with a sharp nod, unconsciously glancing toward the helicopter that had drifted even closer to capture better footage of them. She grabbed the shotgun from her back and aimed it one-handed at an approaching symbiote. One shot blasted it all the way into the river. "Rushing here was unnecessary."
He shook his head. "Of course not. We'll feel less pressure with you here."
Felicia patted his back with what might've been reassurance or just affection. "Silver, whoever gets the most symbiotes wins a solo date with him tomorrow."
She lunged forward, moving through the horde of symbiotes with movements so fast they blurred, her claws swiping through them like they were made of paper.
When she landed, she did it in a cat-like pose. "This will get addicting—hey!"
Silvija stepped directly on Felicia's back to use her as a springboard, leaping at a particularly large and dangerous-looking symbiote. With one close-range blast from her shotgun, she knocked it clean off its feet. She planted a foot on its chest and shot its head.
"This should count for ten."
Felicia groaned, "That was my prey."
Natasha hurled her chain to wrap around the giant's neck and drag it toward Dante. He let Venom accept the gift while he watched his official and unofficial girlfriend bicker and compete over their respective "kill counts".
With Laura helping from time to time, the process became so effortless that he didn't even have to lift a finger.
The symbiotes were being weakened and dragged toward him to be harvested.
"It's delightful," Venom muttered in his mind, satisfied. "but it is tiring."
It reached a point where even Venom was exhausted from swallowing fragments. He still wasn't complaining, not when the numbers disappeared until only a few scarce could be seen.
It was at that exact moment that the news helicopter decided to land on the cruise ship's top deck. It definitely wasn't an approved landing zone, but the news channel clearly couldn't resist the opportunity to interview his group live from the site of the action.
"Laura, come here."
Laura kicked the floor and dashed to his side in an instant. "What?"
"I'll be going for a while." He pointed at Felicia. "Listen to her until I'm back."
Laura frowned. "What if I'm hungry?"
"She'll give you food."
She looked at Felicia, who waved back with a grin. "Okay. Be back soon."
"I will. Natasha," he said. "take care of the rest here."
He reached for Felicia to pull her aside, and then his hand was grabbed. When he looked back over his shoulder, he saw Natasha staring at their joined hands.
"Romanoff?"
Natasha released his hand immediately, clearly realizing the kind of rumor that could grow from a single camera frame. "Backing out of your promise to treat me?"
He knew it was to ask him more about the operation tonight rather than the dinner itself.
"I really need to be somewhere else."
Natasha nodded reluctantly. "Let me know if plans change."
On the other side of the deck, Silvija was staring at him with a deathly glare, and the glare felt even more terrifying with the symbiote mask. He had to feign ignorance of the jealousy and make plans to address it later.
He pulled Felicia away to a more isolated corner of the deck, away from cameras and curious ears. "I need to go see if I can actually help Gwen's father. His condition is critical."
That received an immediate nod of acknowledgment from Felicia. She continued listening attentively, clearly waiting for whatever additional directions he had for her.
"Take Laura when you leave. She's officially part of Wild Pack now."
He would've preferred to give these instructions directly to Silvija herself, but it was better not to involve her too publicly in these decisions while cameras were still recording.
Felicia nodded twice. "Silver is going to lose her mind."
Of course Silvija would appreciate having such a capable and powerful fighter officially joining her mercenary organization. Having Laura in Wild Pack would significantly strengthen their operations.
"When will you return?" Her deep emerald eyes showed hesitation behind the symbiote mask. "Any estimates?"
He saw through her intentions and smiled, which wasn't noticeable to anyone.
"I haven't forgotten our promise," he said, holding her shoulders firmly enough to reassure her. "We're going."
Her eyes shone with joy, and then she pouted as if she was annoyed at herself for showing it. "I wasn't trying to pressure you about that."
He chuckled. "I know. I'll see you back at home."
Felicia had taken a room in Silvija's office building, so technically it qualified as her home now as well, even if the arrangement was still relatively new.
She gently punched his chest. "Be safe."
"You too."
He shot out a web-line and swung toward the island, leaving the cleanup and media circus for SHIELD.
***
Meanwhile…
BANG
Norman threw his wine bottle at the screen. Crystal shattered across the floor and red wine trickled down the wall like blood.
"He stole it from my vault."
He gritted his teeth in frustration.
The timing couldn't have been more perfectly designed to infuriate him. Just minutes ago, he had been riding the high that came from bedding Whitney Frost, savoring the conquest of a Maggia Princess. He had been imagining his future kingdom, feeling invincible.
And then this.
Watching Skullfire absorb other symbiotes raised suspicion in him. Only the source symbiote should be capable of it. So he had sent Frank Castle into the vault for verification. His worst fears were true.
The source symbiote was gone.
Norman sat there for a long moment, staring at the cracked screen. Then, slowly, a smile spread across his face.
"No, not everything is gone yet."
He reached into the neural network that connected him to every symbiote. The connection formed in an instant, adding more perspective into his vision. He watched through another slave's eyes as they focused on a blonde woman's face.
A masked vigilante now full of despair. She was emotionally devastated.
Watching her made his smile widen. He would look terribly deranged to any observer.
The source symbiote wasn't useful at this stage of his plan. He had created more symbiote vials than the number of people he could acquire as hosts.
And the real reason he had launched this invasion of Roosevelt Island had never been about the symbiotes themselves.
It had been about luring Ghost Spider out into the open where he could take her.
And despite Skullfire's interference and the public humiliation of watching his symbiote army get systematically dismantled on international television...
Norman had succeeded.
Splendidly.
***
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