“Okay, remember... no killing on this one, keep it controlled. Got it, V?” I asked Venom as we both looked over the small compound.
You got it, but just remember that if we get cornered.
I let out a chuckle as Venom then began to envelop me, turning us into what we’ve dubbed as Agent Venom, mostly due to our military-like armor designed to mirror S.W.O.R.D’s agents and we leapt into the air, landing on the roof.
Alright, you know the plan, we sneak inside the compound, go past the guards, and capture the target with the help of the S.W.O.R.D sleeper agent—got it?
“Got it—no killing, stay in cover, find the agent-guy, get the bad guy, and take him in.”
A smile started to form on my face about Venom’s simplicity—you didn’t need to take much time explaining things to him, just give him the details and he’ll get it done.
We noticed an opening in the vents—possibly from the double-agent—and entered through it, reducing our armor so we can fit. The inside of the vent was covered in dust and grime, Venom growing slightly agitated with the particles sticking to us.
Remind me to shower when we get home.
“Okay-- shower when we get home.”
I laughed a little, grateful that no-one else could hear, and we reached the end of the vent, noticing the two guards watching nearby.
You ready?
Venom responded by shooting out two tendrils at the guards, zipping them towards us, and successfully knocking them both out, with a simple adjustment of our fists.
Ni-ice.
Venom formed a mouth just to smile as we zipped over to the guards where Venom unwrapped himself from me, allowing me to strip and quickly switch into the guard’s uniform, putting on their cap to fully disguise myself, storing the agents’ bodies into the vent.
“Alright-- the agent sent us a code-phrase to use, you remember it?” I asked Venom as I walked through the facility, testing Venom’s attention.
Hmm... Oh, yes—it's: ‘Have you seen my badge?’ and we’re supposed to say ‘Yes-- it was in the boiler room.’
I smiled, tipping my hat as armed guards passed us.
“And they aren’t supposed to be armed.” I reminded him as well as myself.
Yes—that, too.
After the guards passed us, I continued to search the compound until I spotted a lone guard, unarmed and looking around.
“Alright, I think I got him—just stay calm, and wait for my signal if things go wrong.” I told Venom as I approached the agent.
“Hey, have you seen my badge?” He asked me.
I felt the small jolt as I realized that he was the agent.
“Yeah-- it was in the boiler room.” I told him, completing the phrase.
He sighed in relief and signaled us to follow him, eager to be alone.
We managed to reach a lone corridor where he looked around for cameras and he then confronted me.
“Thank God—I was starting to think you’d never show up... you’re Agent... Venom, right?”
I nodded, proud of our new name.
“Yep, that’s us.” I said to him.
The agent let out a chuckle, and then, suddenly and violently, kicked me against the wall and pulled his gun to my head.
“Good-- we knew that agent we caught snooping around was waiting for an Agent Venom. Come on out!” The guard called out as at least 20 other guards surrounded us.
I felt Venom swirl around in anticipation as I started to plan our attack...
“You ready, V?” I asked out loud.
“Ready? Ready for what?” The guard asked, his aim starting to shake.
I only answered him by handing control to Venom, allowing him to wrap around me as he quickly stuck to the wall, using our legs to kick the guard across the room, allowing us to shot a tendril at his gun and pull it towards us, where we then shot one guard in the leg and the other in the shoulder, incapacitating them.
“So much for the quiet way...” Venom said as we turned to all the other guards...
The guards all opened fire, and we quickly pulled symbiote from our back to form into a shield in the front, leaving a weak spot, but defending us from the fire in front of us.
Okay, are you ready, Venom?
Venom clearly hesitated, and I felt his worry.
“What if something happens, we never went through this, yet--”
It’ll just be for a minute, I promise— go!
Venom reluctantly took his aim and shot out of me in the form of several sharp spikes, nailing the 20 guards in non-lethal places. He then liquified and reformed himself, slithering over to me and quickly enveloping me again.
There, wasn’t so bad, was it?
“That was awesome! Now, I believe we have a bad guy to catch...”
Venom then zipped out of the room, sticking us to the ceiling, where we looked around to see that the coast was clear...
Keep an eye out for an ambush... this guy’s around here, somewhere. Hold up, lemme have an arm.
Venom shifted his essence away from my left arm, where I grabbed the thermal goggles I brought for the mission and put them over Venom’s eyes.
What do you see, buddy?
“He’s on the move, headed into the hallway we’re in... fool.”
I smiled as Venom took control of my arm again, just in time for the target’s breath to be heard as he ran down the hallway.
Wait for it...
Venom listened to me and waited... the target stopped to catch his breath, looking around in every direction but up...
Now!
Venom quickly lunged onto the ground, landing on top of him...
“Admiral Weaving, you’re time of tyranny ends here...”
Silence... and...
“Bon-Bon, what’s the time on that one?” I asked as Venom unwrapped himself from my face.
I stood up from the actor and helped him to his feet, ignoring the clapping from military generals in the background.
“6 minutes and 24 seconds... that’s an academy record.” Bon-Bon said as she pocketed her pocket-watch.
I smiled while Venom slithered out and waved a tendril “hello” to Bon-Bon. I internally smiled and rolled my eyes as she waved back.
One of the generals, Spitfire, stepped out of the viewing booth and approached the two of us.
“I gotta admit, we ran this scenario with 10 of S.W.O.R.D’s top agents last year, and they managed a 9-minute run. I liked what you did with the spikes and that shield—very creative, something that’ll keep you alive in the field.” She said to me.
Another one of the generals, Iron Will, seemed to have a different opinion.
“And like those other agents, you turned what was supposed to be a discreet mission into an all-out skirmish... you willingly disobeyed orders to complete the mission...”
Venom seemed angry at that, but I signaled him to settle, I knew he wasn’t done, yet.
“...but that was the point of the scenario—in a real mission, in a real battlefield, you never know what’s going to happen, and sometimes not all of the intel in the world can prepare you for a sabotage or an ambush. But you handled yourself—yourselves like a true soldier, as well as a true agent... keep up the good work.” Iron Will said as he held out his hand.
I smiled and shook it, Venom helping me compensate for Iron Will’s stong grip.
“Alright, cheer him on later—we just received word of a new mission for him.” Bon-Bon said, setting her hand on my shoulder and leading me away from the generals.
“Flash, Venom, we have a situation—there was a break-out at the Raft just 12 hours ago... the Rainbooms are among the escapees.”
My blood ran cold as Venom stopped moving around...
“...What?” I asked her.
“We’ve sent a disbatch of agents, and Spider-Man and the Siren are doing their part--”
“Take us to her... now.” I said, using Venom near the end.
Don’t talk to her that way.
“Don’t worry—we already have a ride for you.” She said with a knowing smile.
“Okay... Where's the jet?” I asked her.
Behind us, a rather loud engine roared over us and elegantly landed behind us.
“Well... not a plane, per-se...” She smiled, prompting me to turn around to see our ride...
If you had told me the other day that Adagio and I were going to spend our afternoon taking on an electrified monster draining out the city’s powerlines and shooting arcs of electricity back at us... I would’ve called you crazy.
Yet, here we were.
Adagio had taken a few hits, but she dealt them right back, as well. As for me, I was trying to find a way to overload her suit, which was using her mutation and allowing for her to shoot out the electricity she was draining, much more powerful that the stories I heard her doing without it.
“And where again did you get all that tech?” Adagio asked Rainbow Dash.
She didn’t answer—no boasting, no proud quip, she just shot out another arc.
“If I tell you too early... she’ll kill me.” Rainbow said, clearly exhausted and fear resonating in her voice.
That was something I never heard from her—in all of our free-running sessions and our... other activities, I never saw or heard fear like this from her... the only closest time I could recall was when we almost got splattered by a train during a run. But even that didn’t compare to the pupil-dilated, blood-chilling fear resonating from her...
“Who? Who’s going to kill you?” I asked as I web-zipped away from a lightning strike.
That got her mad, she took a moment to charge up again, the yellow lightning resonating from her turned blue as her eyes began to glow.
“Aren’t you listening?! I can’t tell you if I want to! I just... can’t!” Rainbow screamed as she let her power blast out of her in one focused arc, hitting Adagio in the chest, causing her to drop to the ground.
“No!” I screamed, my accent thrown out of the window as I quickly zipped over to her, feeling for a pulse.
None... for a brief moment.
Adagio quickly gasped back into life, me ignoring the gunfire for a brief moment to tend to Adagio’s shock.
“You okay?” I asked her in relief.
She took a moment and scoffed.
“For just dying, yes... I’ll be fine, now let’s deal with her.” She said as she rose to her feet, much to Rainbow’s surprise.
She began charging up again, focusing her aim on me... until out of nowhere, a loud engine started to ring, and a bright light shone in the distance.
And our comms were compromised.
“Hello, Pip—it's been a while. Miss me?” The very familiar voice asked.
No...
Rainbow was caught off-guard by a net shot around her, incapacitating her with the help of electric shocks.
“Hey! What the hell?!” She asked, receiving another shock.
Behind us, she, covered in some kind of metallic armor, landed, looking up in what can only be described as modernized knight’s armor, composed of metal and two large cylinders on her arms, and two more on her legs.
“Um... pardon me, but who exactly are you?” Adagio asked the iron-knight...
She turned around and pressed a button on the side of her helmet, allowing the face-plate to retract, revealing the magenta-skinned girl with grayish violet hair with white streaks...
“Diamond... Agent Diamond.” She said as I saw Flash leap next to her, Venom enveloping him.
Adagio was clearly confused, and I was simply aghast to see Diamond again, after all of this time...
“Let’s deal with introductions later... right now, we have an electric super-villian to question.” Flash said, gesturing to an unconsious Rainbow Dash...