As I swung throughout the city, with Venom... inside me, I came to a realization.
“Wait, when you were with Flash, why were you always talking when you two were... merged?” I asked him, not knowing the right word for their state.
He was always afraid to take control, whether he knew it or not... But the main reason you’re in control right now is because I want you to be—I cannot wait to see how you use your improved abilities—and also because he... always felt like he wasn’t worthy of me. He felt like he should’ve died in that apartment, and he won’t admit to it... but I know it.
“...Remind me to talk to him once this is all over.”
Okay... talk to Flash once this is all over.
I let out a chuckle as we got closer and closer to the Bar with No Name...
“So, what’s the plan?” Ironheart asked, flying next to me.
I took a second to land on a building and turn to the others.
“Alright, I’m basically the only one of us with experience in the Bar with No Name, so I’ll go in.”
Adagio flew up towards us while Ironheart removed her faceplate.
“Wait, you’ve been in the Bar with No Name?” She asked me.
“Y-yeah... y’know... on all-fours... on a leash.”
Diamond let out a chuckle as Adagio smiled and shook her head.
“But I have an in. As long as Applejack doesn’t see me, Venom and I could slip right in and apprehend her with no trouble.” I said, jumping off the building and swinging to the ground where I let Venom form a hoodie on me and I approached the bouncer who took a moment to recognize me.
“Damn, kid—you got taller.” He smiled, letting me in.
Wow... just like that?
Just like that.
As I went through the entrance, I immediately saw Applejack with a small group of her family at the bar-table, sharing drinks.
Oh, shit.
I hid on the ceiling as I listened in on their conversation.
“...so why should we even trust this ‘Twilight’ chick, anyway? How do we know she won’t ditch us like y’all did to Sunset?”
She simply chuckled and shook her head.
“Sunny and I made up terms—she may have crushed my head like a soda can, but hey—now I got a bullet-proof head. As for Twilight, she’s a bit advanced for me—but trust me, with her help, and our Geodes back with us, we can rule this world with an iron fist, and no-one will stop us! Not even Spider-Man!” She rose her glass high as the other members let out a proud cheer.
So, on a scale of one to ten, how bad can we rough them up?
I clenched my fists as I leaned over to Venom.
“9.5.” I whispered, spotting Big Mac—that goddamned animal who--
“Alright, y’all-- he’s here.” Applejack smiled as she looked dead at me, as I signalled to Venom to form my suit again.
Animal who what?
I didn’t answer him as I swung down and grabbed Big Mac by his throat, ramming him against the table.
“Is that Flashie in there?” Applejack taunted, tilting her head.
I turned to her and let out a growl.
“Nope. Just me.” I said as I threw Big Mac over the table, his back landing on the drink counter and then falling to the floor, the countless alcoholic glasses tumbling down with him.
Oh, shit!
"That was for Vinyl!"
A handful of the group pulled out guns and started opening fire, the bullets being absorbed by Venom who slowly pulled them back out.
Pip, just take a breath before you do something you’ll--
I let out a scream as I charged at Braeburn, but before I could punch him, Big Mac grabbed me by the legs and swung me into a pillar, shattering it.
Thanks to Venom, all that did was piss me off.
I sent Venom’s tendrils onto Big Mac’s arms, which cause him to shout in horror as I jerked my legs inward and held him into the air, letting out a powerful kick that sent him flying onto the wall, my ordinary webbing restraining him.
Good thing you packed those—no need for another Carnage.
I ignored his comment as I leapt on to Braeburn and started to beat him down—hard—thanks to Venom’s powers.
“Tell me... how does it feel?!” I screamed as I continued to beat him until I could see mostly see blood on his face and hardly anything else.
I would’ve kept going if it weren’t for Venom pulling me back.
That’s enough! We’re done!
I hesitated, but I then took a look at the devastation I created—the bar was a mess, with splintered pieces of wood littered throughout, and unconscious thugs and Apples littering the room. I let out a guttural growl as I turned to the bloody mess I created and I glanced up at Big Mac.
“If you and your family ever come near Vinyl Scratch or my sister again... And I won’t stop until you’re all a bunch of bloodied husks, do you understand?”
He desperately nodded and I walked over to Applejack, who was hiding behind a lopsided table.
“And you... you’re coming with me.” I said to her.
She didn’t respond well—she head-butted the table, breaking it, and prepared to charge at me.
“You ain’t takin’ me, Spider-Freak!” She shouted as she charged, using her head as a battering ram.
I easily jumped over her and her head went through the wall, getting stuck through the other end.
“There... done.” I said as I pulled out the radio and contacted Captain Shining Armor, who Bon-Bon talked into working with us.
“We got her-- Braeburn and Big Mac, as well.” I said as I walked up the steps, leaving the bar.
I had it.
After 6 months of wondering if Aria was ever going to come back, regretting never asking her about the nightmares she had been having, the trances she’d had... I finally let go.
A couple hours had passed since I... “broke up” with Venom, with him hopefully finding someone else who is compatible... hopefully a better choice than me.
I was looking outside, noticing the storm we were having, with rain droplets landing on the window and sliding down as more mass built up on them. The soothing sound of quiet thunder kept me awake as I heard Octavia let out a yawn from the other room... my room.
I don’t know how to describe what we had, but it was... a moment. Maybe several, but that was an hour ago, and I hadn’t said a word to her, yet. I sighed, deciding that it was time to talk to her, and entered the room again, only to find her bundled up in various blankets.
“I know what you’re going to ask...” She said to me.
I slowly approached the bed, taking my time as to not startle her—startling the Punisher wasn’t really the wisest idea.
“...and I don’t know what happens next. Vinyl’s back, and... I’m going to be honest, Flash, I missed her, y’know?” She asked, her voice starting to crack.
I gently took a seat on the bed, facing her.
“Should I wait on her? Does she even want to be with me again? I’m not sure what happens next... but all I know is that in here? Right now? Nothing else matters. No-one's taken hostage, no-ones getting robbed or threatened or worse. No Sinister Six, no S.W.O.R.D, no Mum, no Pip... just you and me.” She said as she sat up, the blankets managing to completely cover her.
I saw a tear starting to fall from her cheek, so I set my and on it and wiped it away.
“...You do what you want to do. I’m not gonna make you stay here, or do something you don’t wanna do.” I said to her, as she started resting her head in my hand.
I then scooted closer to her, my face a couple of inches away from hers...
“I’ll think about it once we leave this room, but for now?” She cracked a smile as she leaned forward for a kiss, and I started doing the same...
KA-KOOM!
The lights flickered and the ground shook as Octavia went for her gun while I borrowed one of hers.
“Here, dress up.” Octavia whispered as she handed me a robe.
“Okay... how about you?” I asked her.
She quickly changed into a baggy shirt and shorts and approached the door, leaning on one side and me tip-toeing to the other.
“One... two... three!” She whispered as she opened the door with her pistol drawn, to see nothing...
Until someone knocked on the door.
“Flash Sentry. This is Twilight Sparkle of Equestria... We need to talk about Aria Blaze.”
My blood ran cold as Octavia started lowering her gun. I slowly approached the door and opened it, seeing the same girl I fought a couple days earlier wearing metallic armor and her hair running down to her back as opposed to the bun Doc Ock has, and a glowing purple sword sheathed on her side.
“Oh... am I interrupting?” Twilight asked, noticing Octavia barely wearing anything and me only covered by a robe.
We took a moment to glance at each other and back to Twilight.
“No... just let us get dressed first, and then we can talk.” I said to her as we both quickly went back into our room.
After that dramatic entrance, we were all sitting at my table, where none of us really knew what to say, so I decided to start.
“So... what, did Aria finally decide to say hi after all of this time?” I asked her.
Twilight sighed and leaned forward, clearly knowing why I shouldn’t have said that...
“Mr. Sentry, how did you acquire the knowledge that Aria was in Equestria?” She asked me.
“She left a note one night, left without a trace...” I said to her.
“Did you ever get the notion that perhaps Aria was kidnapped? Taken somewhere other than Equestria?” She asked me.
I sighed and scooted forward, knowing my answer.
“Of course I did—I looked into every S.W.O.R.D report of missing persons to try and find a connection for 5 weeks before I faced the truth.” I said to her.
Twilight sighed once again and rose from her seat.
“Well, Mr. Sentry, perhaps you were right to begin with—Aria Blaze was never in Equestria.”
I froze, having no clue what to say.
“That’s... that can’t be true, she—she left a note! M-maybe she never made it.” I said to her.
Octavia started counting her guns in her duffel bag and Twilight walked closer to me.
“Maybe she tried to make it but never did, or maybe the letter was forged, but what matters is something else befell Aria Blaze. I’ve been working with your S.W.O.R.D associates in attempts to locate her, and we believe we’ve gotten a location—Alkai Lake, in Canada.” She said.
I knew that location—I was told about it by Director Tempest, it was going to be my next mission before the Rainbooms broke out of the Raft.
“Okay... first thing’s first: I’m going to need some armor.” I said.
“What happened to you and your Klyntar friend?” She asked me.
Assuming she meant Venom, I let out a sigh.
“We... went our separate ways, I don’t know where he is.” I said to her.
She cracked a smile as she held up her sword.
“I know exactly where he is.” She said as a bright light started ringing in my apartment as...
BOOM!
After the fight at the Bar, two of the few remaining Apples were taken away by Shining Armor, with us calling the Raft’s security to load up Applejack.
“Alright-- just try to keep them in the prison, this time.” I said to them as we heard the roar of a S.W.O.R.D veichle, and knew who was on their way.
“Don’t take another damned step!” Director Tempest shouted as she screeched on her brakes and left her jeep, furiously approaching us.
Oh, shit.
I scoffed and approached her as well, not taking any more of this nonsense.
“The Sinister Six are S.W.O.R.D assets, hand Applejack over or you can be arrested.” She growled to me.
I took note that Tempest was a couple of inches taller than me, but I neglected that and let out a growl as well.
“Let’s say you go through with this little Suicide Squad of yours. Twilight’s a bloody mastermind, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy are netorious for being traitors, Pinkamena is uncontrollable, Applejack still has friends in high places whether she knows it or not, and Sunset is a puppet-master at heart. How long can you control this little Squad before innocent people die? Or maybe they’ll try and get close with S.W.O.R.D, syphoning every juicy secret and weakness they can. What’ll you do when that happens? Besides... try and stop us.” I said to her.
Tempest’s face changed to shock for a split second until morphing back to a straight face.
“I see you have the Symbiote. Tell me, Pip, have you shown aggression recently? Done brash actions, acted... different?” She asked.
No...
I couldn’t even ask what she meant as Venom started unbonding from me.
“Venom? What’s going on?” I asked him.
“...You aren’t compatible. If I stay with you, I’ll change your personality until you’re treating everyone you come across like Big Mac and Braeburn.” He said, completely pulling away from me, and my mind almost immediately clearing.
Oh, God...
“No... Are Big Mac and Braeburn going to be okay?! I... I think I killed them!” I shouted to Tempest.
“They’ll have intense headaches for a while, but they should make a full recovery in prison.” She said.
I turned to Venom, who was moving around on the ground.
“We need to find Flash, right now--”
BOOM!
From behind us, Flash and Octavia appeared alongside the other Twilight, with Flash furiously approaching Tempest, moving over Venom.
“Tell me you didn’t know!” He said, grabbing her shoulders.
“I was going to tell you, but then the Rainbooms broke out—I didn’t want to break your concentration.” Tempest said to him.
“Break my--?! Venom, let’s go—we have a highly protected ex-S.W.O.R.D facility to break into.” He said, Venom bonding back to him.
I was about to let him go, but I decided to make full of my promise to Venom.
“Flash? You gonna be okay?” I asked him.
He turned to me and glanced at... Octavia, oddly enough.
“I’ll be fine. You stay here, we need someone looking for the Rainbooms.” Flash said, approaching Tempest again.
“And speaking of which... we’ll give you the Rainbooms, but if you think that Pip’s mother will let you use them as soldiers... you’ll be mistaken.” He said to her as he then started walking back to Twilight as Adagio ran over to him.
“Wait! What’s going on?” Adagio asked.
Venom started enveloping Flash once again as Adagio started to worry.
“Aria isn’t in Equestria. She was taken by an ex-S.W.O.R.D scientist who started experimenting with other-worldly magic and genetics. He has a facility in Canada where he experiments on people whom he considers has potential... he called it Project X.” Flash said, Venom finally covering his face.
Adagio didn’t say a word, she turned to me, very quickly kissed me, and skimmed over to the group.
“Why didn’t you lead with that?! Pip, kick Sunset's ass for me, love you, babe!” She called out, with Twilight quickly warping them away before I could even take a breath.
“Love you, too...” I said back, turning to Tempest who simply adjusted her trench coat.
“So... who wants to help find Twilight and Sunset?”