"Some progress has already been made," Agent Fitz replied, his voice steady despite the weight of the situation. "It's… ready for deployment."
He didn't need to explain further. He already understood exactly what Nick Fury was thinking.
If Captain America couldn't handle the situation, then they had no choice but to bring in something stronger.
But stronger… didn't always mean safer.
"The cloned subject has reached full maturity," Fitz continued, his tone gaining confidence as he spoke. "After introducing Peter's genetic material and integrating it with the symbiote strain, the development accelerated far beyond expectations."
Even now, the results felt unreal.
What should have taken months—years, even—had been compressed into a single week. From the earliest embryonic stage to a fully formed adult, the transformation had been rapid, almost unnatural.
And it wasn't just about speed.
"This isn't just a clone," Fitz added. "It's a reinforced organism. Strength tests show it can lift over ten tons with a single arm. That puts it well beyond standard human limits—roughly ten times Captain Steve's baseline."
For a brief second, even Fitz hesitated at his own words, as if the comparison itself carried a hint of irony.
Fury remained silent, his expression unreadable as he processed the information.
"Are you absolutely certain it can be deployed?" he asked at last, his voice calm but heavy with skepticism. His instincts, honed over decades, told him this wasn't something to take lightly.
Fitz straightened slightly, forcing himself to meet that piercing gaze. "We've already implemented behavioral conditioning and loyalty protocols. The subject is fully aligned with S.H.I.E.L.D.'s directives. There's no risk of defection."
Fury's eye narrowed, studying him carefully.
"You'd better be right," he said quietly. "Because if you're not… you already know what that means."
Fitz swallowed but didn't back down. "I don't act unless I'm certain."
A long pause followed before Fury finally gave a short nod.
"Deploy it."
His attention shifted back to the large screen, where the chaos in Times Square continued to escalate.
"If the operational constraints weren't so severe…" he muttered, almost to himself. "If we weren't dealing with a densely populated zone like Times Square, we wouldn't be this passive."
Heavy artillery wasn't an option.
Collateral damage would be catastrophic.
And that left them with only one choice—fight power with power.
"Electro's output is increasing," Fitz added, glancing at the data feed. "At this rate, Captain Steve won't be able to hold out much longer."
Fury didn't respond.
He already knew.
——
Back in the ruins of Times Square, the battle had reached a breaking point.
Max hovered above the shattered ground, electricity surging wildly around him, his control growing sharper with every passing second. The earlier chaos inside him had transformed into something focused—something dangerous.
Below, Captain America struggled to keep up.
The pressure was overwhelming.
This wasn't like any fight he had faced before. Not the Red Skull, not any battlefield from the past. This was something entirely different—a force that didn't follow the rules he understood.
The world had changed.
And he was starting to feel it.
The Venom agents scattered across the battlefield fought independently, trying to maintain pressure, but most of the time they were on the defensive. Their enhanced suits allowed them to endure more than ordinary soldiers, but against this level of power, endurance wasn't enough.
They were being pushed back.
As for Hawkeye and Black Widow, they had been completely sidelined. Without the ability to withstand the electrical surges, they couldn't even close the distance, forced to watch from afar as the battle unfolded.
Max's voice rang out from above, sharp and cutting.
"Captain," he called, his tone laced with mockery. "You've really disappointed me. Hiding? Running? Is this what a hero looks like?"
Another surge of electricity ripped through the air, forcing Steve to roll out from behind his cover. Dust clung to his uniform, his movements losing their earlier precision.
"Why won't you come out and fight me properly?" Max continued, his voice growing harsher. "Like a man?"
The energy around him flared again, forming layers of shimmering electric fields that distorted the air itself.
Even from a distance, it was overwhelming.
——
At the edge of the battlefield, the New York Police Department had finally arrived.
"What… is this?" one officer whispered, his voice filled with disbelief as he stared at the destruction.
This wasn't something they were trained for.
This wasn't a riot, or a shootout, or anything remotely normal.
This was something closer to gods clashing.
"Secure the perimeter," George Stacy ordered quickly, forcing himself to stay composed. "Evacuate civilians and establish a safe zone. We're not here to fight—we're here to prevent more casualties."
The officers moved immediately, grateful for the clarity of orders in a situation that made no sense.
Beside him, Misty Knight nodded, her expression focused. "Understood."
But the direction she took told a different story.
She wasn't just securing the perimeter.
She was moving closer.
——
Back at the center of the battlefield, Steve was barely holding on.
Another wave of electricity tore through the area, forcing him out of hiding once again. He stumbled forward, his body covered in dust, his movements lacking the confidence he had displayed earlier.
For the first time in a long time, he looked… cornered.
He couldn't even mount a proper counterattack.
All he could do was dodge, retreat, survive.
It was a far cry from the commanding presence he had shown at the start of the battle.
"Why…" Steve muttered under his breath, frustration boiling over. "Why did it come to this?"
For a moment, it felt like everything was slipping out of his control.
Then—
"Captain Steve, can you hear me?"
The voice cut through the chaos, sharp and clear.
Steve's head snapped up, his attention drawn toward the source.
"I hear you," he replied instinctively, turning toward the distant figure.
What he saw made him freeze.
A towering figure approached slowly, its body clad in a jet-black suit that seemed alive, the surface shifting and writhing like a living organism. The patterns across it twisted into something almost monstrous, forming a shape that looked less like a human and more like a predator given form.
The figure stood over two and a half meters tall, its presence dominating the battlefield even before it made a move.
It was unmistakable.
A darker reflection of Spider-Man—something twisted, something far more dangerous.
Steve's eyes widened, emotion flooding his expression as relief broke through his exhaustion.
For the first time since the fight began, hope returned.
Above them, Max stared down at the newcomer, his earlier confidence faltering for just a second.
"What the hell…?" he muttered, genuine confusion flashing across his face.
Just moments ago, victory had felt certain.
Now—
Something new had entered the game.
Something that didn't belong.
.....
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