The scent of burning circuits filled the air, acrid and sharp, as the robotic monstrosity crumpled to the ground. Sparks danced from its torn-apart neural core, its limbs twitching in a final, futile attempt to function before going still. You stood over the wreckage, panting slightly, black ichor retreating beneath your skin as Venom settled.

Scarlet scoffed, crossing his arms as he eyed the destruction. "You're tougher than you look, spunk," he muttered, tilting his head in mild approval.

You landed beside him with an easy smirk, stretching out your fingers, which still tingled from the raw force you had just exerted. Venom, ever the show-off, flicked out his tongue and licked the air, tasting the aftermath of the fight with a delighted hum. Scarlet grimaced.

"Well, yeah," you said, wiping your sleeve across your forehead, barely fazed. "This is fun, after all."

Venom slithered back, peeling away from your face to reveal your expression fully. Scarlet's masked eyes narrowed slightly as he studied you, something unreadable flickering behind them.

You rolled your shoulders, shaking off the remnants of the battle. "Now, let's go and save my friends."

Scarlet exhaled, glancing at the mess before them before nodding. "Yeah, yeah, alright. Lead the way, nightmare fuel."

A grin pulled at your lips. Oh, this was going to be fun.

SCENEBREAK

The hum of the stasis pods filled the dimly lit chamber, casting an eerie glow over the trapped figures inside. Spider-Man, Agent Venom, and Iron Spider hung motionless in their confinement, their faces barely visible through the thick glass. Scarlet Spider tensed beside you, his body coiled like a spring, ready to launch forward—until you caught his wrist, stopping him mid-motion.

He opened his mouth to protest, but you simply lifted a finger to your lips, then pointed upward. His gaze followed your gesture, his breath hitching as he finally noticed the dozens of Goblin Spiders clinging to the ceiling, their eerie, mutated eyes gleaming in the artificial light.

Scarlet turned back to you, his voice barely above a whisper. "How did you hear them?"

You smirked, tapping your lips knowingly. Instincts. Venom's instincts.

Before he could respond, a ripple of movement coursed through your body, and inky tendrils surged forth from your skin. Venom expanded, black mass twisting into lethal, fanged appendages as he slithered up the walls. The Goblin Spiders barely had a second to react before Venom struck.

A sickening crunch echoed through the chamber as one was yanked from the ceiling, disappearing into the writhing darkness. Another tried to shriek a warning, only for a clawed tendril to clamp over its mouth, silencing it permanently. One by one, the guards fell—no struggle, no noise, just swift, merciless efficiency.

Scarlet watched, his stance tense, fingers twitching by his sides. He turned back to you once the last body hit the floor. "You are way too good at that," he muttered.

Venom chuckled darkly, his voice overlapping with yours as you licked your lips. "I know."

You stepped forward toward the stasis pods. "Now, let's get my friends out of here."

The pods cracked open under your strength, the reinforced glass shattering like fragile ice as you tore through the restraints binding Spider-Man. His body slumped forward into your arms, limp and dazed, his breaths shallow as he stirred against you.

"Ugh... what... what happened?" he murmured, his voice hoarse with exhaustion. His masked eyes fluttered open, hazy with confusion as he took in his surroundings. Then, he focused on you, recognition settling in. "Y/N... is that you?"

You grinned, warmth flooding your chest as you brushed your fingers over his cheek. "Hey there, Spidey," you murmured, watching as he leaned ever so slightly into your touch.

A loud, exaggerated gagging sound snapped you out of the moment.

"Oh, come on!" Scarlet groaned, throwing his hands up. "Can we not do the whole heart-eyes thing right now? We're still in the middle of enemy territory, remember?" He gestured wildly around the dark chamber, motioning toward the fallen guards and still-active alarms.

You sighed, rolling your eyes. "Fine, fine." With ease, you adjusted Spider-Man in your arms, shifting him into a bridal carry. He made a noise of protest, but in his weakened state, there wasn't much he could do.

Meanwhile, Scarlet busied himself with the others. Iron Spider and Agent Venom were still sluggish, only half-conscious from whatever toxins or electrical shocks had rendered them immobile. With a flick of his wrist, Scarlet shot two sturdy web-lines, looping them around their bodies before hoisting them up like a pair of inconveniently heavy grocery bags.

"Alright, lovebirds, let's move before those freakish creatures wake up," Scarlet grumbled, already swinging toward the exit.

You followed close behind, keeping your senses sharp for any signs of pursuit. As the dim corridors stretched ahead of you, the weight of the mission pressed down heavier than before. Hydra was still out there, still twisting its claws into the world—and you weren't leaving until they were done for good.

SCENEBREAK

The air was thick with the acrid scent of burnt circuits and the metallic tang of blood. Fluorescent lights flickered overhead, casting jagged shadows across the cold steel walls as Doctor Octopus and Arnim Zola strode through the ruined corridor. The stasis pods, once pristine and unbreakable, now lay in shattered disarray, their thick glass fractured, the viscous containment fluid pooling in sluggish rivers around the lifeless bodies of the guards. Some had been impaled, others twisted into grotesque, unnatural angles—silent testaments to the raw, unrelenting force that had torn through them.

Doctor Octopus exhaled sharply, his mechanical arms twitching with barely restrained irritation. One of the appendages reached up, massaging his temple as if to soothe a rising headache. "Oh, for heaven's sake!" he snarled, his voice laced with frustration. "Did we truly believe we could contain Spider-Man and his merry little band without that insolent brat meddling?"

Zola, ever the unimpressed observer, sneered. His digital face flickered with distorted static as he folded his synthetic arms. "Huh? And who, pray tell, are you referring to?"

Ock let out a short, humorless chuckle, his glasses flashing under the dim light. "Spider's girlfriend," he muttered, the words dripping with both exasperation and intrigue. "That pretty little thing I told you about."

Zola's artificial eyes narrowed, his expression twisting into something between amusement and disdain. "Ah. That bitch." He sighed dramatically. "Should we kill her the next time she dares to interfere?"

Ock's lips curled into a knowing smirk, his metal limbs clicking against the floor as he turned to his associate. "No," he said smoothly, dark amusement glinting in his gaze. "I want her blood, remember? She's far too valuable to simply eliminate. And besides," his voice dropped into a hushed, almost reverent tone, "we can't kill her. Not yet. Not when she has the full weight of S.H.I.E.L.D. behind her... not when she wields that cursed symbiote I created—Venom." His tentacles tensed, the metallic claws flexing as if recalling past failures.

Zola rolled his mechanical eyes, dismissing the notion with a flicker of static across his chest screen. "Then what do you suggest? Allow her to run rampant, destroying everything we've built?"

A slow, predatory grin stretched across Ock's face as he turned back to the wreckage before him, stepping over the still-warm corpse of a fallen guard. He ran a gloved hand through the slick residue of the stasis fluid, watching the viscous substance drip between his fingers like molasses.

"We wait," he murmured. "Let her believe she's won. Let her celebrate her little victory. And then..."

The metal arms on his back twitched, their claws curling in anticipation, gleaming beneath the cold, artificial glow.

"...when the time is right—she'll be ours."