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[NSFW] - Always looked good in Black (Marvel Venom!SI with possible Xover)

7 - Consolidating the Dream Team
When you have a large group made by many heroes and a couple of villains that you need to keep together without risking any major conflict erupting, the one option your friendly cookie-muncher in the neighborhood can offer is… use the web. A lot of webbing at that.
The very moment I saw a few of the 'more reluctant' people react negatively about trying to behave civilly with each other, I started webbing them before any hint of violence could have come out of it. I didn't blame some for reacting the way they did, especially Prodigy. Looking back at how he got arrested, it was almost hilarious when he tried to build a moral ground to stand on regarding being against working with known criminals.
Lemar Hoskins was more of an Anti-Hero than a proper Hero due to his past with Silver Sable's Wild Pack, but he seemed quite annoyed by the fact he was labeled a 'fake protector'. Prowler didn't seem to mind it, and the rest of the group was just wary of Norman Osborn. To be fair, Norman himself was wary of his current situation as he had yet to be told how he was going to get his annoying green buddy off his back and into the furthest place on the planet.
After I was done settling down the trouble-makers within the large group, I decided a little speech was needed to deal with most of the concerns within the team itself. Dropping out of my Venom form, I noticed most of them regarding me with surprise.
"Hey, you ain't Brock," Battlestar pointed out and I nodded.
"Yes, I'm not the failed reporter. And before you ask, he is still alive. I got the symbiote after it was forcibly separated from him during a skirmish against Spidey and Iron-Man," I started with a serious but mirthful tone. "Now, I understand there are questions concerning why a known and possible villain has enlisted the help of Heroes, Anti-Heroes and Villains to create a group that will take part in this crazy war Stark is so hell-bent to win so he can appear nice to the world. I take questions for those that raise their hands and- Yes, Ms. Dagger?"
"Tandy is fine," The gorgeous blonde started to say. "So, how about you introduce yourself first. Kind of difficult to trust someone we don't know much about."
"Fair point. I go by the name of John Bukharin in public, but I generally… well, we are Venom," I replied calmly. "And- Mr. Wiccan?"
"B-Billy. Mr. Bukharin, I don't mean to be disrespectful but… I still would like to go back to Cap's group."
"I suppose you want to go back to your boyfriend, Billy. Pretty legit reason in my book, but the thing is that… it would be best not," I answered with a small smile, noticing the surprised look on his face at that comment regarding his relationship with Hulkling. "The issue here is that trying to make any exchange with Cap now would expose both groups to retaliation more than ever since well… you just got out of jail. I doubt streets are going to safe at least for a full day or two."
"B-But-" He tried to argue, clearly invested in making sure his guy knew he wasn't turning to the dark side.
"I have a way to contact Cap. I will tell him that those that were or want to still be part of the Secret Avengers are here and that we will give more info once the situation is a little more stable on our end," I assured with a polite smile. "Once again, nobody here is forced to be there until after a few days, but I believe you all know that creating this group doesn't come out of nowhere and-"
"Why?" Cloak asked, and I gave the man a nod.
"Three principal points: First, the Civil War itself. While The side we're taking is similar to Cap, the main approach to it shall be more different. Stark has been using government's money to sustain a propaganda campaign to reinforce popular support for the Act. If we want to have a serious win in this war, we have to start discrediting Iron-Man."
"And you have some dirt on him already?" Norman inquired, clearly interested by the idea of cracking at the man's reputation.
"I've something, but it's not enough to do much without getting some proof first," I argued with a solid sigh. "The big blow can wait since it would require a trip to Bulgaria."
"Bulgaria? What's in there?"
I glanced at Savin, or Coldblood. "A secret not even Stark knows about, but it is good enough to pretty much destroy any claim he has to his company."
I didn't add more to this very mysterious bit, knowing that giving more info would do more harm to my plans, so I suddenly turned to the other points and gave them other things to be concerned about.
"Second point is a bit more complicated considering a backstory is needed: a few years ago, Tony Stark and Reed Richards, 'officially' as the leading envoy from Earth, went to the Skrulls' homeland and demanded their attempts to stop or face retaliation," I started to narrate. "Needless to say that the Skrulls took this as an attack more than else and they retaliated. First they tried to capture the two, failing but recovering parts of their DNAs, then… well, they planned it big."
"How much… big?" Iron Fist asked with a suspicious look. Instead of answering that, I turned to glance at Criti, still wearing her Pym's appearance, and nodded at her. Moments later, the entire group tensed up as Hank Pym, the current Yellowjacket, turned in a Skrull woman with blonde hair.
"W-What?" Prodigy exclaimed in pure shock. "You mean to- They have replaced some of us?"
"I would say more than 'some', Mr. Gilmore," The woman answered. "My name is Criti Noll and I was an infiltrator of the Skrull Empire before… Venom killed the Queen and stopped the invasion."
"I would pat my back on my own if I hadn't done that way too many times," I added sarcastically. "Still yes, the Skrulls tried to take over Earth by replacing important heroes and politicians, favoring any instability that can ease up a proper invasion."
"What about those that have been 'replaced'?" A quiet voice called from beyond most of the group. I glanced over a couple of heads and stopped to stare at Robert Baldwin. The man had asked this while he was busy scribbling numbers on a piece of paper with a pen he found around. 612 and other multiples of that number were prevalent bits of the paper, reminding me of his trauma regarding what happened in Stamford.
"Criti has the location of the ship where the heroes are being kept, but we will need to get through the simple tasks of retrieving your outfits and gears before going for that kind of task," I explained before allowing Criti herself to speak some more in that regard. She was keen to bring up what kind of threat we were going to find there and anything tied to it to the curious new teammates, while I calmly made my way around and right to the semi-retired Speedball.
He noticed my approach, but said nothing about it until I stood right in front of him.
"What?"
"You still blame yourself for what happened? 612 victims and… yet those should have been at least 613?"
He gritted his teeth, the remembrance of those days still a sore spot… but I wasn't planning to back away, not when I needed more Speedball than Penance. I wanted the balanced buddy more than the edgy spiked-armored dumbass.
"It's not something you have any right to-"
"Nitro was given the means to create that explosion. His powers wouldn't have normally done that, which is why the New Warriors were so calm about that fight," I interjected, pulling out of the symbiote the newspaper early this morning. The one that I had been waiting to see for the big page that I had helped create due to the event that was being mentioned. "Here, read."
At first he was reluctant to even spare a look at the news, but… he decided to indulge his curiosity and he caught the first lines of the first page. His attention was taken by the mentioning of Stamford, but was completely solidified when he read more about it. Soon he was holding the newspaper, the piece of note he was scribbling down to the ground, forgotten as Robert Baldwin was granted the truth in the bluntest way possible.
DC Inc. CEO, Walter Declun, fired and arrested after shocking revelation over his involvement in the Stamford Disaster. Hoag obtains control ad interim.
The man kept on reading, a lost look appearing on his face as what he eventually grasped out of this newspaper and discovery.
"I-I wasn't the one that triggered Nitro? S-Stark- Richards, they both said that-"
"They lied," I replied with a serious look. "They knew that something else could have triggered it, but they didn't tell you because it would have made their position awkward. After all, if Damage Control is that flawed, how much of the entire war was fabricated to keep these bastards in charge."
He gave me a wide-eyed look, staring up right at my face.
"These 612 victims. They are still on your back, but not as your sins, Robert," I regarded with a truthful tone. "You lived so they could through you. They want you to be the hero that could do it when he couldn't back then. I'm quite sure you understand that this mean remaining Speedball."
"I-I'm not worthy-"
"And so are those responsible for this? Is Iron-Man worthy? Richards? Anyone that was involved with the war and decided to make Stamford a political point to give credit to their agenda?" I pressed on him. "I understand you will not be back to it anytime soon, but I wish that you at least give it a serious thought. If not for yourself, for the 612 you tend to write a lot about."
He looked genuinely shaked by what I had told him. I doubt anyone had actually tried to get through him regarding his current PTSD. To be fair, I was surprised he hadn't snapped at my words, his imprisonment giving him time to think and collect himself rather than forsake what was left of his psyche to mindless rage.
With that out of the way, I knew it was time to handle the groceries. If I had to keep this big of a group, food was going to be a necessity to increase to sustain the increase of manpower. I also stopped to speak with Norman as I knew that his loyalty was going to remain in a pleasant light until I managed to get what he wanted as quickly as possible.
"I want you to help Criti to keep people from mauling each other. I know someone will start fights, but we really don't need it," I told the man, catching him off-guard with the bluntness of my tone. "I'll be out hunting down the bargaining chip I need to get your little problem solved. Don't make me regret helping you and then having to eat your head, Osborn."
I showed the carrot, and then I 'softly' spoke about a big stick waiting for him if he didn't accept this little submission. He seemed to agree to this, mostly because he was more enticed by the idea than anything else… and soon I was out. It was fairly late due to how packed today had been, and it was about to come to dinnertime so I had to be swift about the capture of my target and the shopping trip to get clothes and food before all shops closed up.
My little search started with a small grunt, someone really insignificant compared to super-villains, but someone that definitely seemed to be tied to the Hood due to the district I found him by. The area of Hell's Kitchen was a hotspot for pricks trying to get their claims as the Kingpin of Crime now that the OG Kingpin was in jail and couldn't do much against anyone usurping his main base of operation.
The guy was incredibly young, really easy to scare shitless as I pulled him up a streetlight and showed him how sharp my devilish smile was.
"Howdy there, you little turd," I hummed eagerly, knowing that I was soon going to have fun with the rip-off version of Ruby Rose. "So, where is Red Riding Hood hiding?"
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AN
A 'slow' chapter so to speak, but next one… well, let's just say Venom will not fight just Hood. After all, Hoodie Boy got his own gang of super-thugs brown nosing for him just nicely.View This ThreadUnread Watched Threads
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