Peter nervously stepped out of the classroom, a mix of excitement and anticipation swirling in his chest.
Then, the principal words almost made him jump with joy.
"A reporter from the Daily Bugle is here again!"
The principal grinned.
"Remember the last time the Daily Bugle did their New York Top Schools Ranking feature?
They mentioned that the top-ranked schools would have follow-up student interviews.
This time, it your turn again. Make sure you say lots of nice things about our school."
"No problem, Principal!"
Peter beamed. "I won't let you down."
"Go on, then," the principal said, waving him off with a smile.
At the school gate.
"Anton!"
Peter climbed into the passenger seat of the car, his excitement bubbling over. "You finally showed up! I thought you'd forgotten about me!"
"How could I forget about you?"
Anton chuckled. "Are you ready? What coming next won't be any easier than last time."
"Really?"
Peter showed no fear, his enthusiasm shining through. "That makes me even more excited!"
"Even if it means going head-to-head with Captain America?"
Anton teased, a smile playing on his lips.
"What?"
Peter froze, his eyes wide. "Captain America?"
Washington, D.C.
Pierce operation, approved by the World Security Council, was quickly relayed to the Avengers.
Based on their earlier discussions, the Avengers had already confirmed their first target: Eddie Brock, editor-in-chief of the Daily Bugle.
As Rumlow had pointed out, Eddie wasn't just a journalist but also the superhero Venom—a founding member of the Justice League and one of the first heroes to work alongside Batman.
It was clear that Eddie held a wealth of secrets about Batman.
Extracting information from Eddie was bound to yield valuable insights.
The team moved swiftly.
Tony Stark—Iron Man—was particularly troubled.
Eddie was his friend.
In this operation, he lacked the authority to make decisions, leaving him frustrated and conflicted.
On the one hand, he didn't want to go against a friend. On the other, without detaining Eddie, they wouldn't be able to get closer to the truth.
Thinking back to the message Eddie sent last night, and the results of his own verification…
Determination filled Tony eyes as he steeled his resolve.
Washington, Downtown, A Luxury Hotel.
The Avengers arrived at the scene in their transport vehicle. They exchanged glances, pressed their hands to their earpieces, and made a few quick confirmations of their comm signals before proceeding with the mission.
"The target is in room 2701 on the 27th floor."
"He alone."
"Be cautious. The symbiote within him, Venom, possesses advanced intelligence and can sense danger beforehand.
In other words, Venom may already be aware of our presence…"
"That means we need to act fast!"
"Fast?"
Tony spoke in a low voice, "Leave it to me… I'll try to reason with Eddie."
Meanwhile.
Eddie was sitting in his hotel room, deep in thought about the current situation.
Nick Fury had been attacked, and Eddie had passed along the possibility that Fury had been replaced to Tony Stark. But Tony hadn't responded to the message at all.
There were two possibilities:
The first was that Tony had verified the information to be true.
The second was that Tony had verified it to be false.
If it was the first case, things wouldn't be this calm, and there would certainly be upheaval within S.H.I.E.L.D.
But if it was the second case…
That would be trouble!
It would only push Tony Stark closer to HYDRA camp.
Eddie furrowed his brow in frustration.
Suddenly.
"Eddie, run!"
Venom deep voice echoed in his mind.
"What?"
Eddie stood up instinctively, startled.
Crash!
A red figure burst through the glass of his balcony.
Eddie turned his head and saw—
Iron Man.
"Tony!"
Eddie face darkened, and the symbiote within him began to take over his body, leaving his head exposed.
To anyone watching, he now looked like a two-headed monster.
"What the meaning of this?"
Eddie expression was grim, his sharp gaze fixed on his old friend—or perhaps now his enemy.
"Eddie, we need to talk," Tony said, stopping in front of him. He opened his helmet faceplate, revealing a serious and conflicted expression.
"This is about HYDRA," Tony began.
"Batman has some accusations against him that can't easily be dismissed. You know this, like Fury statement implicating him. I need you to come forward and provide some answers."
"This is your idea of talking?" Eddie replied coldly.
"You barged into my place and used force. That not my definition of a conversation."
"I don't want to fight you, but I had to come."
Tony voice carried a note of frustration.
"But since I'm here, I hope we don't have to fight—as long as you cooperate."
"Surrendering isn't my style," Eddie snapped.
With that, his head retracted fully into Venom body.
In an instant.
Venom completely took over Eddie form.
"Roar!"
A monstrous figure, entirely black with white markings across its body, appeared before Tony eyes.
The creature had a humanoid form, sharp fangs, and eyes filled entirely with white. Its muscular body seemed to ripple with barely restrained power.
Clink!
Tony closed his faceplate, knowing a fight was inevitable.
This was exactly what he had anticipated.
If he were Eddie, he wouldn't surrender either.
Handing over control of one fate to others was foolish in 99% of cases.
"So this is the symbiote…"
Tony scanned Venom, his expression darkening.
"Sir, this creature looks rather dangerous. Shall I set up an insurance policy for you now?"
Jarvis voice broke the tension.
"Damn it!" Tony growled.
"Who taught you to say things like that?"
"Why, you did, of course," Jarvis replied.
"You're my best teacher."
"Shut up!"
As Tony spoke, Venom raised its hands, which morphed into a massive hammer.
Boom!
But to Tony surprise, the hammer wasn't aimed at him—it smashed into the door behind Venom instead.
The wall shattered, and the door went flying.
On the other side, Black Widow and Hawkeye came into view.
"Tsk," Tony muttered in exasperation.
Jarvis chimed in again, "Perhaps I should arrange insurance for your teammates as well."
"Just shut up!" Tony snapped, charging at Venom with his suit repulsors.
But Venom had been anticipating Tony move. The hammer morphed again, transforming into writhing tendrils that wrapped around Tony armor. The immense force shifted Tony flight trajectory instantly.
Crash!
Before Tony could deactivate his thrusters, he smashed through several walls, forcing him far from Venom.
Whoosh!
Meanwhile, Venom leapt out onto the balcony, landing on the building opposite the hotel. It began scaling the wall, quickly disappearing from the Avengers' line of sight.
"He can't be allowed to escape!"
Hawkeye gritted his teeth.
He and Black Widow quickly activated their suits, generating intense heat that caused the molten door remnants to drip away.
Thanks to their specially designed high-temperature-resistant combat suits, they managed to avoid any wardrobe malfunctions.
Meanwhile, Captain America chased after Venom retreating form. Leaping from the balcony, he crashed through the opposite building wall, landing inside.
"He on the rooftop," came the voice of Acting Director Maria Hill through their comms.
Although Captain America was in charge of this mission, Hill, stationed aboard the Helicarrier, had mobilized the city surveillance network to assist the Avengers.
"Let go!"
Doctor Octopus, who had lagged behind, now sprang into action, using his mechanical arms to propel himself from the balcony in pursuit of Venom.
Black Widow, Hawkeye, and Crossbones exchanged glances before dashing after them.
Whoosh!
Tony armor streaked past, easily overtaking them.
"Damn it!" Hawkeye muttered.
"I've always said we should be outfitted with personal aircraft!"
Rooftop.
Venom voice echoed in Eddie mind.
"Eddie, they're closing in fast."
"Send the emergency signal. Anton needs to bring reinforcements," Eddie said before pausing, his tone growing angry.
"The Avengers are all here, and this is Washington, S.H.I.E.L.D. turf… If they want a fight, then we'll give them one!"
He had just received confirmation from Anton.
The military had approved Batman request.
The Justice League now had authorization to engage S.H.I.E.L.D. at any time.
But Eddie hadn't expected the Avengers to come knocking before the Justice League even had the chance to initiate anything.
"Good point," Venom agreed.
"We're not afraid of a crowd."
Eddie revealed his arm, where a sleek wristband glimmered—the teleportation device Anton had equipped all Justice League members with.
The wristband wasn't just for teleportation; it also had emergency call and distress signal functionalities.
Clearly, the enraged Eddie had no intention of using the teleportation feature to escape.
Instead, he planned to summon Anton and the others to the scene, to show the Avengers who truly had the numbers.
Whoosh!
Before Eddie could fully activate the wristband, Tony Stark, in his Iron Man armor, arrived in front of him at blazing speed.
"Stop running!"
Tony sighed. "Eddie, you can't get away."
"Run?"
Eddie sneered, his voice and Venom merging into a chilling harmony.
"We're not running," they said in unison.
"Is that so?"
Tony descended from the air, his shoulder-mounted missile launchers deploying. The rattlesnake missiles locked onto their target, ready to fire.
"Good," Tony said calmly. "Because if you make one more move, I won't hold back."
As he spoke, Captain America arrived on the scene, his shield at the ready, a serious expression on his face as he kept his guard up against Venom.
Moments later, Doctor Octopus, Black Widow, Hawkeye, and Rumlow joined them, surrounding Venom.
"Stand down," Tony urged again.
"You're surrounded. You don't have a chance."
"Chance?"
Eddie and Venom spoke again, their voices perfectly synchronized.
"There no such thing as chance. We create our own opportunities. And as for being surrounded…"
Eddie grin widened into something sinister.
"The ones who are surrounded… are you."
The Avengers froze for a moment, confused by the remark.
Suddenly, Tony sensors picked up massive energy fluctuations. The air around them shimmered, space itself twisting and compressing.
"What is this…?"
Tony eyes widened as realization dawned.
"Teleportation? A Teleportation system?"