Not far away, Holm lay half-submerged in a construction site pothole. Scattered around him were several orange-yellow warning barrels connected by cordon tape, with one part of the tape wrapped loosely around his body.
"Dammit! I think I broke my back… maybe a few ribs too!" Holm groaned as he assessed the sharp pain radiating from his waist and abdomen.
"Didn't you sense that lizard monster coming?" Holm asked Venom through gritted teeth.
Although Venom had never bonded with Spider-Man, and therefore lacked Spider-Sense, Holm had assumed that Venom's natural perception abilities would still kick in. After all, in the Venom movies Holm had seen that the symbiote always seemed to have heightened awareness. So why hadn't Venom noticed the lizard creature?
Venom responded sheepishly, "Sorry... I was busy eating chocolate and didn't pay attention."
Holm went silent for a moment, processing that ridiculous response. 'This is my Venom, huh? He gets so engrossed in chocolate that he ignores lurking threats.'
Honestly, Holm would've preferred Venom claiming that he lacked the necessary perception abilities. Somehow, that would have been easier to accept.
"Let me fix those bones for you. Won't take long," Venom chuckled awkwardly before setting to work on Holm's injuries.
With a few distinct "pop" sounds, Holm's bones realigned, and his injuries started healing at a rapid pace. Within moments, his broken bones were as good as new.
"Just… don't let that happen again," Holm muttered, frustration boiling beneath his words. He wanted to say more but bit his tongue, deciding against it.
He pushed the manhole cover off him and slowly stood up. Thanks to his symbiotic relationship with Venom, his body was now far stronger than it had been. Lifting the manhole cover with one hand was no big deal in his current condition. Holm hadn't yet experienced the full potential of his symbiote form—when Venom completely enveloped him—but he estimated he'd be several times stronger once that happened.
Nearby, the lizard monster was locked in combat with Spider-Woman. The creature let out deep, guttural roars, but Spider-Woman's relentless attacks didn't cease. Though the lizard beast was powerful and had thick scales that provided excellent defense, Spider-Woman's agility and intelligence gave her the upper hand. As the fight dragged on, the monster was gradually pushed into a corner.
"Roar!" the lizard monster bellowed once more, just as a manhole cover came flying through the air, slamming straight into its gaping mouth.
Before the beast could spit out the manhole cover—or its broken teeth—Holm leaped from behind and jammed one of the nearby orange warning barrels over the lizard monster's head, obscuring its vision.
"This thing would be even funnier if it were smaller and wearing a suit. I've never fought a zombie before," Holm muttered, pulling out his pistol and firing several rounds into the lizard monster's vulnerable spots while its vision was still blocked.
The creature's scales offered strong resistance, but Holm's bullets eventually punctured through its tough exterior, causing dark green blood to ooze from the wounds. The lizard monster writhed as the blood splattered across the street.
But to Holm's surprise, the bleeding quickly stopped. The lizard's wounds began to heal before his eyes.
"That ugly bastard has some incredible healing powers!" Venom remarked, sounding impressed as they observed the creature's rapid recovery.
Holm didn't reply. He continued firing, trying to do as much damage as possible while the lizard's vision remained blocked by the warning barrel. Meanwhile, Spider-Woman was constantly flinging webs at the creature, attempting to bind its limbs.
From a distance, Gwen Stacy had been keeping an eye on Holm, worried about his well-being. But after seeing him take down the lizard monster with the manhole cover, she was impressed.
Gwen had witnessed the force with which Holm had been hit, and she'd and she had also seen the force with which the manhole cover was propelled. Yet Holm showed no signs of injury. She couldn't help but wonder how he was still standing.
As Holm ran out of bullets, Gwen swung toward him on her webs, landing lightly between him and the lizard monster.
"Get to safety! I'll handle the rest," Gwen shouted before launching herself back into the fray, wrapping more webbing around the creature.
The lizard monster roared in fury as it flailed its massive body, desperately trying to free itself from the thick webbing and the warning barrel still stuck on its head. But Gwen wasn't about to give it a chance. Nimbly dodging the creature's thrashes, she reinforced the webbing, wrapping more and more around the monster until it resembled a giant cocoon, with only its head—warning barrel included—left visible.
After delivering a powerful strike to the monster's head, Gwen knocked the lizard out cold. The beast's furious howls died down, leaving only the faint rustling of webbing in the wind.
Breathing a sigh of relief, Gwen sat down on the unconscious monster, catching her breath.
Holm, meanwhile, replaced the empty magazine in his pistol and holstered it. He couldn't help but feel a sense of awe as he watched Gwen.
"Spider-Woman..." he whispered, still wrapping his mind around it. In his world, Spider-Man had always been Peter Parker. But in this universe, Peter Parker was dead, and Spider-Man was no more. Instead, Spider-Woman—an unknown heroine—stood in his place.
As Holm's eyes lingered on Gwen, she glanced back at him, sensing his gaze. The look in his eyes made her pause, scratching her head in confusion. Did he recognize her somewhere? Why was he looking at her like that?
Before either of them could say anything, the wailing sound of sirens echoed through the streets, drawing closer by the second.
Within minutes, a dozen police cars surrounded the intersection, their lights flashing and sirens blaring in a cacophony of sound. The harsh voice of an officer blared through a loudspeaker.
"NYPD! Spider-Woman! You're surrounded! Hands up and don't move!"
Holm recognized the middle-aged officer standing beside a patrol car, shouting orders. It was none other than George Stacy, the man whom Holm had encountered once before at Midtown High.
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