Scorpion rolled across the rooftop in agony, and the strange figure gave him no chance to recover. The black suit covering his body seemed alive. Tentacles stretched out one after another, stabbing into Scorpion's body under Peter's shocked gaze.
To be precise, they stabbed into Scorpion's armor. The dark green armor was stripped away in quick, practiced movements, as if the figure had done this sort of thing many times before.
"Who are you?!" Peter's sluggish brain was completely confused. The sudden appearance of one superpowered person after another left him unable to understand what was happening.
The stranger ignored Peter and shot out a stream of black liquid, pinning Scorpion to the rooftop. The liquid stretched into strands almost identical to Peter's webbing. There was also a spider emblem on the stranger's chest.
This was blatant plagiarism!
Intellectual property rights!
Then the stranger took out a phone and seemed to send a message. After finishing all this, he finally walked up to Peter—and the first thing he said nearly made Peter explode.
"Peter Parker?"
"Huh?!" Peter raised his head in panic. How did this guy know his true identity? No one in the universe should know it except Mr. Stark, Mr. Renzo, and Miss Witch.
"What are you talking about? I don't understand." Peter tried to explain nervously, but anyone with eyes could see through such a clumsy lie.
The stranger pulled off Spider-Man's mask directly, revealing Peter Parker's face underneath. Peter's expression was full of despair and panic. Once his identity was exposed, criminals would definitely come looking for him. He was not Mr. Stark or Renzo.
Seeing that the boy in front of him looked like he was about to cry, the stranger quickly stopped teasing him. The mask over his head receded like an ebbing tide, revealing a strange blue face beneath it.
"Nice to meet you. My name is Cartel. I'm from the Kree. You can also call me Agent Venom. I'm a trainee Avenger and Boss Renzo's younger brother."
Cartel stretched out a hand and pulled Peter up from the ground. "The poison in your body should wear off in about two hours. But if you're worried, I can take you to Dr. Banner. He's very good with this kind of thing."
Peter did not speak. Or rather, he had not reacted yet. Cartel's long list of titles had completely overwhelmed him.
"An alien? Or an Avenger?"
Peter was helped up by Cartel. "Did aliens invade Earth? Oh my God, I actually missed such an important scene because I was at school!"
"The boss told me you were chatty. Looks like he was right." Cartel folded his arms and hid the laser gun behind his back.
"Why are you called Venom? Those liquids you sprayed out look like they're alive. And the spider on your chest..." Peter stared at him suspiciously. His naming rights could not be used by others for free.
"It's a long story. In fact, it and I are two people... no, two species."
Cartel pulled off a small piece of Venom and tried to let it crawl onto Peter's hand.
It felt cold, sticky, and unpleasant, like mucus that had been sitting in a refrigerator for an entire day.
The black liquid lay on Peter's hand. As if sensing a powerful life-form, it began to stir with excitement, preparing to bond with Peter.
Cartel immediately took the tiny drop of Venom back and returned it to himself. "It's very dangerous. With your personality, it would be difficult for you to control it. More likely, it would control you."
"Do you know Peter Parker?"
"I am Peter Parker."
"I mean the other one." Cartel rolled his eyes. "This was torn from another Peter, and there was another bad guy too. It carries the memories and abilities of both hosts, so I can launch something like spider silk, and that's why a spider symbol appears on my chest."
"Oh! I remember now! I heard him mention it!" Peter finally recalled some of Tobey Peter's experiences fighting villains, including this one. "I remember it's called a symbiote, and it comes from outer space."
"Yes. I also come from outer space." Cartel seemed to have found a kindred spirit. Every word Peter said suited his taste. "Venom and I have a natural affinity. The violent impulses and cruel emotions from before never appeared in me at all. It was as if it had been tailor-made for me."
"That's really cool, right? But I'm more curious about the structure of the laser gun behind you." Peter's eyes were almost glued to the weapon. The bright silver body, the smooth aerodynamic barrel, the beam projectiles...
"What's the energy source? Electricity? Solar energy? Nuclear energy?"
"Ions in the air."
"So cool! Is this alien technology?"
Little stars almost appeared in Peter's eyes as he looked at the sleek weapon with envy.
Perfect!
Absolutely perfect!
"Kid! Your camping trip is over!"
A blue vortex slowly opened like a curtain, and Renzo stepped out of it.
"You're slow," Cartel complained. "I still have to go to a bar for drinks. Earth's cocktails are really good!"
"It happened suddenly, and I worked hard to get here." Renzo waved his hand, glanced at Scorpion, who had already awakened and was glaring at them with vicious eyes, then frowned. "Shouldn't this guy be in prison?"
"No. He doesn't have any prison record." Cartel fiddled with his watch and connected to the prison database. "Except juvenile detention."
Only then did Renzo understand. In this time and space, Peter had not caught Scorpion and sent him to prison. Instead, he had obtained the Scorpion suit and become a super criminal.
"Where did you get your suit?" Renzo stepped forward and kicked Scorpion. No—he should be called Mac.
Mac glared angrily at the Avenger in front of him, a sneer curling his lips. "Go to a hospital and get yourself an organ, you bastard!" He emphasized the word "man" heavily, clearly mocking him on purpose.
"Wow. Sounds like you're very manly." Renzo smiled and approached Mac. Even if Mac said nothing, Renzo had many ways to make him talk. The simplest and most direct method was to use the Mind Stone to look through his thoughts. But after that insult, Renzo was destined not to make things easy for him.
"Brave man, I hope you really are one." Renzo stepped on Mac's private parts. With a slight increase in pressure, an indescribable, soul-piercing pain surged straight into Mac's brain. It was the kind of pain no man could ever forget.
Mac was no exception. His face twisted in agony, and he cursed wildly, even dragging Renzo's ancestors into it.
"Damn your wife!"
Renzo's eyes suddenly sharpened. He had no parents in this life, and no matter how much Mac cursed them, Renzo would not take it personally. But those words touched something far more sensitive.
His foot pressed down harder. Mac let out a scream like a slaughtered pig and fired a laser from his forehead, melting part of the rooftop.
"Uh..." Cartel and Peter were so frightened by the tragic scene that they instinctively clamped their legs together and hugged each other, as if that could ease their fear.
"Take him away. Leave this kind of person to the professionals at S.H.I.E.L.D. for interrogation. I'm too lazy to deal with him." Renzo turned and walked into the portal. "Call an ambulance first. Although I used very little force, bleeding is inevitable, and it may become life-threatening after a while."
After saying this, Renzo left without looking back. Seeing someone like that only polluted his eyes.
Peter watched Renzo leave and felt that something had changed...
Wanda was lying on the large bed, a long crimson nightgown draped over her body. The warm, dim light gently illuminated her fair face. A pair of square-framed glasses rested on her small nose. Her soft white arms were exposed as she held a copy of Harry Potter in her hands, reading attentively while silently mouthing the words.
Renzo returned to his human form, put on blue pajamas, slipped under the quilt, and moved close to Wanda. "Do you want to learn the magic in there?"
Wanda rolled her eyes at Renzo, smoothed her brown-black hair, and tried to make her boyfriend lean against her more comfortably. "It's just a novel. How could the magic in it be real? I just want to look at their magical techniques and see if I can improve my own abilities."
"Think about it. If I could control stone statues or use magic to manipulate time, things would be much easier for me!"
"You haven't gone on a mission in a long time, have you? I'm the one handling them every time."
"Do you have a problem with that?" Wanda grabbed Renzo's ear, squeezed hard, and twisted it.
"It hurts, it hurts! I was wrong, I was wrong!" Renzo quickly begged for mercy, but there was a smile on his face.
"You liar." Wanda looked at Renzo, who was clearly not in pain but still pretended to suffer. The smile at the corners of his mouth almost reached the sky, and his exaggerated expression made her want to laugh.
But in order to maintain the dignity of the head of the household, laughing was impossible. Wanda raised her hand and released scarlet magic, hoisting Renzo directly to the ceiling. His pajamas were stripped away, and when she looked up at the pale sight above her, Wanda finally laughed until she could no longer stop herself.
Hearing Wanda's silver-bell-like laughter beside him, Renzo's mood improved a lot. Her happiness was what he wanted most.
He had always stayed by Wanda's side. The Mind Stone affected her state of mind at every moment. She was too fragile. Her childhood experiences had become a lifelong wound. Under normal circumstances, there would also have been the deaths of Pietro and Vision. That gentle woman would eventually have fallen into an abyss of pain.
She had never truly let go. Perhaps joining the Avengers could only make her stop hating Stark, but the scar hidden deep in her heart still remained, carrying an unspeakable pain. When sorrow accumulated to a certain point, even the darkest version of herself would eventually collapse.
Renzo did not want to see a sorrowful Wanda. He wanted her to be happy forever, so he let her bully him all the time. He tried different ways to make her smile every day. He went on dates with her to famous places around the world and tasted delicious food from countless cities and countries.
Being gentle with the person you loved was nothing shameful.
Wanda closed the book, and Renzo fell down as well. He held Wanda's beautiful body in his arms, turned off the light with a thought, and the two fell asleep while embracing each other.
The golden gem flickered slightly, and the corners of their mouths could not help curving into faint smiles.
The dream was beautiful and happy...
...
"Name."
"Mac Gargan."
"Age."
"Thirty-five."
"Gender."
"Can't your eyes see?"
"It's honestly hard to tell now." Hill glanced at Mac strangely, a hint of ridicule in her eyes. "We will keep the hospital's medical records."
Mac exploded with rage in an instant, kicking over the interrogation table and chairs like a madman. His handcuffed wrists turned red, his eyes filled with scarlet bloodshot veins, and his vicious hatred almost solidified as it stabbed toward Hill again and again.
He hated them. He hated the Avengers so much. It had obviously been none of their business, yet they insisted on interfering. If they had simply left Spider-Man to him, none of this would have happened!
Mac's dignity had been trampled under Renzo's feet. His proof of manhood had been completely taken from him. He might as well be dead.
"According to relevant intelligence, you were instigated by someone." Hill looked at the information in front of her. It recorded Mac's life experience, his parents, home address, education, social circle, and even the first time he had gotten into trouble. Nothing was missing.
Stark had always mocked S.H.I.E.L.D. as a group of people who liked prying into everyone else's privacy. He was right, and even then, he had been holding back.
Nick Fury had now left S.H.I.E.L.D. He had more important things to do, and S.H.I.E.L.D. had been handed over to Hill.
"Seventeen days ago, you went to Hell Bar and stayed there for three days. For three full days, you didn't take a single step outside." Hill turned the computer screen toward Mac. "After you came out, you arrived at a villa in the suburbs. According to our investigation, that villa belonged to Hammer Industries. After that, your whereabouts completely disappeared until that night three days ago."
Hill raised an eyebrow. "Don't tell me you got drunk and passed out in a bar for three days, then happened to be taken away by people from Hammer Industries. That kind of lie is less believable than a dog raising itself." Hill closed the computer and sneered.
"I am just a dog. What, do you want me to bark twice?" The veins on Mac's forehead bulged, and even his grin was full of hatred. But he did not dare betray or expose the person behind him.
S.H.I.E.L.D. probably already had some suspects, but that had nothing to do with him. As long as that person's identity did not come from his mouth, he was still a loyal dog.
Hill smiled faintly and walked out of the prison holding Mac. The entire cell was made of special bulletproof glass, and visibility was one-way. People outside could see everything inside, but from inside, Mac could only see a mirror.
This place had been specially built by Nick Fury for superpowered criminals, though this was only the ordinary level. Stronger prisoners were locked in an undersea prison beneath the Pacific Ocean, but at present, it had only one tenant.
"How did it go?"
"He didn't say a single useful word," Hill said coldly, while May poured her a glass of boiled water.
"Investigate Hammer, Fisk, and Harold. Those people are all suspicious." Hill assigned May a task. "Also, keep an eye on the street heroes and Inhumans who have appeared recently. Inform Coulson and the others. Monitor them strictly and be ready for the Avengers to step in."
Hill's face was cold. She would never allow uncontrollable incidents to happen again under her leadership. Snake S.H.I.E.L.D. had become a thing of the past, but Hydra now had a legal identity and was walking openly in the daylight.
This was simply a disgrace to Hill. More than once, she had complained about how she had become director of S.H.I.E.L.D. at such a terrible time.
"Nick Fury, I'm definitely deducting all of his retirement pay."
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