Strangle a robot?
Are you actually insane?
Venom thought to himself.
But Peter just shook his head. "You don't get it. A veteran taught me this."
To this day, Peter still hadn't forgotten the image of Steve Rogers choking out a robot with his bare hands at the Stark Industries Expo all those years ago.
"Technically, you're twisting and snapping their internal wiring, cutting off the current flow."
Venom rolled his eyes, the expression saying louder than words: Yeah, right. Pull the other one.
Right then, a sharp crack rang out — Peter had twisted the Ultron bot's neck clean off. Severed wires sparked and sputtered, and the robot's eyes flickered erratically.
Fine. Whoever said snapping a neck doesn't count as strangling?
Venom shut up.
Peter casually webbed the robot's wreckage to the wall to keep the parts from falling and hurting any pedestrians below.
Thankfully, Bente had long since hooked him up with a nanosuit. With Venom unreliable at the moment, Peter had grabbed his Plumbers badge inside the building and completed the suit swap — his web-shooters were fully functional again.
"Bzzt — Peter Parker — surrender — the symbiote —"
The severed robot head wasn't completely offline yet. Even plastered to the wall, it kept sputtering out shrill alarm warnings in broken bursts.
Peter ignored it completely. He fired a web line at the corner of another building and swung hard, launching himself rapidly into the distance.
The remaining four Ultron bots shot straight up like flying fish breaching the ocean surface, then dove down after him, staying tight on his tail.
"Spider-Man, surrender now!"
Ultron bellowed from behind.
The electronic voice echoed across several city blocks. Pedestrians stopped in their tracks, staring upward.
See, for the past few months, New York had been as calm as a stagnant pond. Even a bicycle thief would've been tossed into a cell by now. Run a red light? Ultron would have you in cuffs before you made it to the next intersection.
A sudden, intense aerial chase like this was instant front-page news.
Only an idiot would stop!
Peter thought as he swung, mentally calculating how much help each different building in the city could give him.
They say Jackie Chan is the god of furniture stores — but honestly, the little Spider's knack for using random objects and environmental debris wasn't half bad either.
Ultron, on the other hand, had to hold back. It hadn't torn off the mask entirely yet. On paper, its top priority was protecting civilian safety, so it couldn't exactly start firing high-powered ranged weapons.
Even using sonic attacks required careful consideration — if it shattered a skyscraper's windows and the glass rained down on innocent people, it would be the one in trouble.
So, with Peter exploiting the terrain and Ultron deliberately pulling its punches, Peter quickly took down a second, then a third bot.
But the situation wasn't improving at all. More and more Ultron units were converging on his position. They had clearly flagged Peter as a high-risk target.
One Ultron bot swiveled its head left and right, putting on a show of searching for Peter. It drifted unwittingly close to the narrow gap between two buildings — and promptly flew straight into a web.
White webbing struck its back. Peter, hidden in the crevice, yanked hard, dragging it inside. Then he wound up his fist and pounded it repeatedly, smashing the bot into scrap in seconds.
Of course, that also meant his hiding spot was now effectively blown.
"This isn't working!" Venom extended a tendril, poking it out like a submarine periscope to track the other bots' movements.
In the distance, Ultron units that had received the signal were already closing in.
"Isn't there some one-and-done solution for these things?"
"No good. Neurotoxins don't work on them," Peter replied, equally frustrated.
His original suit wasn't exactly loaded with weapons. There had been a sonic device at one point, but he'd removed it because its destructive power was too high.
"Dammit, what the hell is wrong with these tin cans?!" Venom cursed again. "When are the Plumbers' reinforcements getting here?"
"I don't know either..." Peter pressed himself flat against the wall like a gecko and shook his head.
The Plumbers' space station was in orbit — even rushing, it would take time to arrive.
There were Plumbers members on Earth, but everyone had their own busy lives. Harry was probably still at the company buried in paperwork. Uncle Ben and Aunt May had almost certainly gone off to do volunteer work again.
Ever since Ultron went active, there wasn't much for a couple of handymen to do on Earth. Unwilling to sit idle, the two of them had gone back to their old roots — community service.
The Ultron bots were getting closer. If they got surrounded again, escaping wouldn't be so simple.
Peter would probably be fine — after all, he had Bente as the ultimate backer. But his buddy Venom was almost certainly dead meat.
"So what now?"
Venom felt numb.
He peeked out again. Dense clusters — dozens of machines — were closing in from every direction. There was really no flying away this time.
Peter swept his gaze across the surroundings. His eyes finally landed on the ground below. He flipped backward off the high perch, dropped down, and pried open a manhole cover.
"I've got a secret base!"
"A stinking sewer?"
"God, you're so lame!"
Venom had known Peter didn't have any brilliant plan, but he never imagined the two of them would sink to this — scurrying through sewers like rats.
"Quit complaining!"
Peter didn't hesitate before jumping down, then used his webbing to pull the manhole cover back into place.
The sewers were old stomping grounds for him. He knew them like the back of his hand.
"Ugh, it stinks!"
Venom sprouted a face just so he could pinch his nose in disgust.
The darkness wasn't an issue for either of them, but the damp, rancid air and the slimy, sticky ground were profoundly unpleasant.
"About the same as your mouth," Peter shrugged. "Come to think of it, about the same level of sticky and gross as you, too."
"What's that supposed to mean?!" Venom instantly bristled. "Are you saying I'm like a sewer?!"
"No." Peter shook his head. "At least sewers get cleaned regularly. You, on the other hand, never brush your teeth."
Venom: ...
Wait, bro.
What the hell is that supposed to mean?
Venom was speechless. Weren't the two of them supposed to be standing together, united in righteous condemnation against these rusty tin cans right now? Why was he catching strays?
"What now? You think we're gonna live in the sewer for the rest of our lives?"
Venom propped up his face sulkily.
"What the hell is that Stark guy playing at, just letting these piles of scrap metal run wild? I'm one of the good guys!"
His fried-egg eyes rolled around in thought, and he landed on a twisted little scheme.
"Peter, let's just follow the sewer lines straight to his place. We'll pop out through his toilet, and when that bastard Stark sits down to take a dump, I'll bite his sunny-side-up eggs clean off!"
Venom delivered this with absolutely zero shame.
He thought it was a brilliant idea.
The sheer shameless, sleazy energy of it was practically hereditary — Deadpool would've been proud.
"Chew his goddamn quail eggs to mush! That'll teach him to mess with Lord Venom!"
"Enough!" Peter snapped. Even at his angriest, the worst he'd ever do was maybe flick a little dust in Tony's eyes. Venom's idea was completely unhinged, and utterly impossible to pull off anyway.
Besides, Avengers Tower, where Tony Stark resided, was fortified to the teeth. They could barely handle the Ultron swarm outside. Going straight for Stark was practically walking into the lion's den.
But that didn't mean they were letting this slide.
Peter shook his head and kept moving forward.
"We can't hide here for long."
The words had barely left his mouth when the sound of metal hitting the ground echoed from every direction at once. The noise reverberated through the cavernous underground space, several meters high, making Venom recoil back into Peter's body in agony once more.
Then, in the pitch-black sewer tunnel, beams of light cut through from all sides.
Peter dropped back into a fighting stance.
But this time, Ultron had clearly come prepared. It tossed something over — Peter didn't even catch what it was — and in an instant, the web-shooters on his wrists shorted out completely. The webbing backfired and exploded outward like a popcorn machine gone haywire.
"Cease resistance, Spider-Man!"
The white robots waded through the filthy water toward him.
The sonic weapons mounted on their wrists were primed and ready to fire at any moment.
"Spider-Man, every pattern in your behavioral record has been cataloged. Cease your futile resistance and surrender the symbiote."
Peter clenched his fists.
Surrender was not an option. If word got out, wouldn't that tarnish the Plumbers' reputation?
Not to mention he was still an Avenger.
"Tony Stark, what exactly are you trying to do?! Why are you coming after me? Don't forget, I'm an Avenger too!"
Peter demanded.
He figured Tony had to have lost his mind, turning his guns on a fellow Avenger.
"This was not Mr. Stark's order. Our target is solely the symbiote."
Ultron replied immediately.
"According to data inference, the symbiote Venom exhibits strong antisocial tendencies. It is a significant destabilizing and high-risk factor and must be contained immediately."
"Spider-Man, cease harboring the symbiote, or you will be classified as a threat."
Peter glanced forward, then back, and sank deeper into his stance.
"Then I guess we're fighting!"
He might've lost his web-shooters, but his superpowers weren't just about spraying webs.
Down in the sewer, Ultron had numbers, but the bots were also heavily restricted.
The high methane concentration meant they couldn't use thermal weapons. They couldn't even fly — every single bot had waded through the foul water to get here, propulsion systems completely powered down.
If it came down to hand-to-hand combat, he wasn't afraid of a numbers disadvantage.
The one thing he actually had to worry about was using too much force. If he snapped a robot and the sparks ignited the sewer, he'd be sending the whole of New York sky-high.
Ultron had no intention of fighting fair. It activated its subsonic emitters and launched a direct attack on Peter.
Individually, each sonic wave wasn't strong, but together, they made the ground tremble. Even the foul, stagnant water in the sewer rippled and shook. Across the yellow, murky surface, droplets vibrated, leapt up, and fell back down.
Agony exploded in Peter's skull!
Crap — I forgot they had that trick.
Both Peter and Venom despaired. Even if Peter could power through the pain and smash a few dozen more bots, it wouldn't change anything in the end.
The total number of Ultron units had reached staggering proportions. Ever since the Battle of New York, Tony had been churning out robots nonstop. The whole strategy was to overwhelm any crisis with sheer numbers.
Watching Peter clutching his head on the ground, Ultron's expression didn't flicker. It gave a wave of its hand.
"Seize them both. Bring them in together!"
The white robot army stepped forward — but just then, a crisp, sharp sound rang out through the sewer.
It was the sound of several small metal spheres rolling across the ground.
"Who's there?"
Ultron instantly went on alert. Its glowing eyes swept through the darkness, scanning, and on its processor, a tall, slender, and graceful dark silhouette appeared.
"Ultron?"
"You dare lay a hand on the Plumbers?"
The shadow's voice was incredulous and furious.
"If that playboy's head isn't screwed on right anymore, I'll be happy to use it as a soccer ball!"
"Felicia!"
Peter recognized the voice immediately. Relief flooded through him.
His sister-in-law was here. No need to fear Ultron now.
"Black Cat?" Ultron turned, visibly surprised.
It had assumed the Plumbers' backup would be Bente Parker himself. It hadn't expected Black Cat.
But it didn't matter who showed up. The result would be the same.
Felicia shot a deeply disgusted look at the sewer's filthy environment. Cats were exceptionally clean creatures, after all.
Unfortunately, at the moment, she really was the only Plumber with both combat capability and availability.
Thankfully, the nanosuit Bente gave her came with a full-face mask function. When activated, it wrapped her up from head to toe without a single gap. The only minor annoyance was that the mask design looked a little too similar to Black Panther's.
But what could you do? They were both felines.
Spotting Felicia, Ultron immediately stated its position, speaking politely: "I have no intention of making enemies of the Plumbers. However, the symbiote Venom is an extreme destabilizing factor and must be contained."
"This is a warning. If the Plumbers continue to obstruct my operation, you will be classified as enemies."
Dozens of Ultron bots swiveled in perfect synchronization, leveling their weapons at Felicia.
Felicia had no patience for small talk. She wanted this wrapped up fast so she could get back to the surface.
This place was filthy, foul, wet — absolutely sickening!
"Then bring it on!"
She curled her lips into a cold smirk.
The next instant, the Ultron units struck first!
BOOM!!!
Invisible shockwaves of sonic force surged toward Felicia. Concentrated together, the waves could reduce steel plating dozens of centimeters thick to powder in an instant!
But when they hit Felicia, they didn't even make her step back half an inch.
The black nanosuit merely shimmered with pulses of violet light, and the sonic waves vanished into nothing — like mud oxen disappearing into the sea.
"Vibranium, is it?"
Ultron murmured under its breath, its gaze flickering.
That metal had been the object of its desire for a long time now. Along with the technology Primeus was developing — something called the "Regeneration Cradle"...
All of these were on Ultron's acquisition list. The only reason it hadn't started hoarding them openly was that the timing wasn't right yet.
Close combat it was, then.
It gave a slight wave. All the robots surged toward Felicia in a wave.
But Felicia just sneered, raised her hand, and snapped her fingers.
Snap!
In that instant, a violent electromagnetic pulse swept through the entire sewer. In the blink of an eye, it fried the Ultron bots' programming. Dozens of machines collapsed like scrap metal, listing and crashing into the stinking water in twisted heaps.
Felicia's beautiful eyes narrowed sharply. Her voice was ice.
"These piles of scrap metal... how dare they lay a finger on the Plumbers!"
"Peter, grab some of them. We're going to settle scores with that playboy!"
/-\
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