Skirmish at Saks Fifth Avenue ((Eddie/open))

[Warbird]

"There is another situation requiring your attention, miss Danvers." The smooth, inflectionless voice coming from her left gauntlet was set to some sort of fancy frequency that vibrated the bones of her inner ear and let her hear it crystal-clear even over the rush of passing air at 110mph. It was just as well, because Anna Danvers didn't like slowing down for anything.

"Spill the beans, Buster." 'Buster' was a name she'd heard thrown around a lot by grown-ups when she was a kid. In time, she realised they were only saying it while she was around, to spare her ears any profanity. But it had stuck with her since then, and the computer needed a name, so...

"Shots fired on 3rd floor of shopping establishment at 611 Fifth Avenue, possible heist in progress." She knew the address - Saks. Who needs guns to steal clothes? Mentally applying the air-brakes, Anna reoriented herself to point the right way, then reached out with her arms and willed herself into motion once again. The passing buildings stretched out into blurred lines as she passed them, eyes set forward and squinting through the wind. Sometimes, she would spend hours wondering how her body worked, why she could feel so many little things clearly yet could shrug off hits that could kill a normal person...normal. She didn't even know what it felt like to be normal, having been born with her mixed-up genes firmly in place, DNA that the greatest scientists of her time still had yet to get a handle on. As she opened her mouth to take a breath, she stopped, realising she didn't need to. The instinct was there, but holding her breath didn't make her lungs hurt or her vision darken...

Now's not the time, she chided herself, although she made a mental note to visit her father sometime soon and get a fresh perspective on the ins and outs of ionic bodies. Sweeping gracefully through a left-handed turn, the street ahead cleared to frame the massive ivory uptown castle that was Saks. Anna spotted a black armoured van parked - more like crashed - down by the doors at ground level, which seemed to be rocking back and forth on its axles whenever the police tried to get near it. Probably important, but right now her priority were the gunmen already in the building. She oriented herself towards the nearest third-floor window, and dove straight in.

KERRASHHH!

The criminals, as it turned out, were a good 20 metres to the left, surrounded by customers laying flat on the floor. None were directly held as hostages, though, which simplified things for Anna. Before the glass shards from the window had even hit the carpet, she'd already drawn a bead on the closest two men. A moment later, the familiar warmth spread through her raised fists, and two bolts of brilliant light flew the length of the ladies' underwear department before exploding against the mens' chests. Catapulted back into clothing racks by the shots, they went down in a pile of bras and stayed that way.

That was enough to attract the attention of the other two guys. One of them raised a sub-machinegun as she darted towards him, and actually managed to get a shot off - Anna winced reflexively as the bullet compressed harmlessly against her cheek - before she pulled a somersault and drop-kicked him as gently as she could, still with enough force to knock him out. It sometimes took serious effort for her to fight unempowered people without accidentally breaking bones, and she knew Mr. Lewis had to be getting sick of the hospital bills and lawsuits being sent his way.

Turning to face the last man, she found him framed by an elevator marked 'Staff Only'. He touched one finger to what looked like a radio on his chest before reaching for a pistol - another brief burst of flight brought Anna right in front of him, and she tore the gun from his grip with ease before crushing it between her palms, smirking at the look of surprise that stretched his face. "Do me a favour - when the police ask you about this later, tell them it was Warbird."

One last rabbit-punch to the forehead, and he joined his colleagues in sleepy-land.

"Show's over, folks, now if you'll kindly proceed down the nearest stairs in a calm and orderly fashion, the NYPD are on hand to deal with any remaining concerns you may have. Sorry about the interruption to your day." Anna smiled warmly as she spoke to the momentary hostages, most of which seemed too shellshocked - or too starstruck? - to think about asking questions as they picked themselves up and moved hurriedly away. She waited 'til she was alone before turning around to consult the scene. The gunmen didn't seem to have stolen anything, but the control panel in front of the elevator had been pulled out, and it looked as though one of them was trying to...hotwire it? Anna frowned, and raised her left gauntlet. "Buster, ask HQ for a check on this building's schematics, willya? I've got a hunch these guys weren't just really keen on invading the staff break room."

"Of course. Consulting..." She got her answer fifteen seconds later. "This location is mentioned as a front for an underground laboratory in multiple incident files written by Avengers team members during the 1980s. The complex was operated by a cell of Advanced Idea Mechanics."[/I]

"A.I.M?" A shiver of excitement passed unbidden through Anna. A.I.M was oldschool, and hardcore...but the thought of taking them on was definitely appealing. Assuming it IS them. She glanced back at the unconscious gunmen; they wore black fatigues and ski-masks, with shop-bought kevlar vests. A far cry from A.I.M and their bright-yellow beekeeper hats.

Crunch. A sound like crumbling gravel caught her ear. She looked out the window -

- just as it was broken by a thick, segmented metal cord, tipped by a gun-barrel and a cruelly jagged blade that levelled towards her, and fired! Anna braced herself - "Unng!" - but it did her no good, as the shot drove her back against the elevator doors and...pinned her there, as a creeping, numbing sensation grew across her chest. What the hell? Looking down, she found her entire upper torso enased in a sheet of ice that had grown partway across the doors to boot; a photon-bolstered punch broke her free again, but the numbness was an unpleasant shock. It...hurt. And she didn't hurt easily.

Shaking it off, Anna squared her shoulders as the tentacle retracted...and an armoured man entered through the broken window, scuttling on all fours like an animal. The emerald-coloured metal that covered his body flexed almost like a second skin, leading up to a blue, jagged helmet that covered his - or her, can't tell - entire head, save for a tinted strip where the eyes would be. Sharp claws extended from the tips of its fingers and toes, and the tentacle that had blasted her was extending out from the small of its back, like a tail. She'd never met such a thing before, but Anna had read a lot of old files - is that...the Scorpion? It certainly looked like Spider-Man's old enemy - but Mac Gargan had been dead for years...

Just as she was digesting that fact, another few crunches came from outside - and with a smooth leap, a second 'Scorpion', identical to the first, burst into the room, its expressionless gaze turning to study her.

"Buster..." Anna muttered, curling her hands into fists and spreading her centre of balance, "...now would be a good time for a bit of the old 'Avengers Assemble'..."


(TBC by anyone, but preferably an Avenger)

[Anti-Venom II]

Eddie stood on a building, in his normal human form. He was going to attempt something. And then the young Brock ran across a roof, and leapt off of it, front flipping as he did so. While he was not the most graceful hero to have ever lived, he was a good bit graceful in human form, and more graceful in his symbiote form. As he completed his flip, the symbiote burst forth, allowing himself to switch into his Anti-Venom form. Sending a string of webbing towards a large building. Swinging forward, Eddie continued to swing from building to building as he thought about the philosophical problems and many other dilemmas in his life.

His father had almost been killed by a new symbiote a while ago, and Eddie Jr had hunted the symbiote, and due to the curative powers of his own symbiote, he had managed to destroy it. However, Eddie Sr was beginning to grow distant Eddie Jr, probably due to his own symbiote. He was struggling to help his dad as a symbiote hunter, but he kept refusing his help. Landing on top of a building, Eddie Jr looked up at the sky and let out a roar similar to the ones his father had once told him Venom let out. The suit morphed back into the more feral Anti-Venom style, as Eddie Jr continued to roar out his frustrations. However, he wasn't producing any emotions, as the symbiote invasion had been caused by so many years ago.

Looking down, Eddie Jr took several deep breathes to calm himself down, trying to regain control of his temper. He had nearly gone into one of his unstable bouts of rage, which would have caused him to attack any villain or hero that crossed his path. Walking towards the edge of the building, he stepped onto the very edge of it. Falling forward, Eddie extended his arms and he fell down, allowing himself to be as graceful as a bird. As he approached the ground, Eddie sent a string of webbing to a building and quickly propelled himself forward with the speed and agility of a very fast and powerful cheetah. Swinging through the city again, he just followed his Spider-Sense, which he had managed to refine when he had gained his powers. It was just as powerful as Spider-Man's, which was a good thing, as it had become linked to his reflexes, and he could dodge most attacks now, due to this. However, right now it was tingling at a particularly high frequency, as if something was coming right at him.

And Eddie's sense was right. Leaping off of his web, he barely missed being hit by some sort of blur. Falling towards the ground, he quickly tensed his knees a bit and landed in a bit of a crater. Standing up straight, he pivoted and saw two battle suit clad people in front of him. However, the most defining trait of the suits were the scorpion tails at the back of them. Eddie knew exactly who these were. Scorpions, similar to Mac Gargan from years ago. His father had told him about the stories of Mac Gargan, both as Scorpion and then Venom. And these Scorpions were wearing suits very similar to the ones his father had described Gargan as wearing as Scorpion. Tensing his muscles, he snarled a bit at them. They just looked at him with indifference, their tails twitching. Shifting the arms of his symbiote form into blades, Eddie Jr leapt through the air with the ferality and the gracefulness of a jungle cat attacking its pray. The scorpions leapt to the side, and as Eddie landed, one of them slammed its stinger of its tail into his back, injecting him with something. As he was about to beat them, he felt a burning throughout his entire body. Dropping to his knees, he roared in pain as the Scorpions got away. This burning, it had happened before. Osborn's Cure caused the symbiote to take damage and left him without . As his suit began to take cellular damage, Eddie quickly shifted back to his human form, still in pain. His symbiote form would need a few minutes to regenerate fully, and the pain was beginning to dull now.

Looking in the direction that the scorpions went, Eddie quickly ran in that direction. Even though his symbiote needed time to regenerate, he could still access some of its powers. The power he was accessing now was the speed of it. However, he could only run at five miles per hour right now. Running after them, he wondered how they could have obtained that damned cure. As the scorpions ran into an old building, Eddie transferred the five ton strength he had gained from his symbiote/human strength use to his legs and he leapt in after them. Cracking his neck, he noticed how his suit had fully regenerated, and he could access it again. He saw another hero, and he recognized her as Warbird. He said “Hey Warbird. Remember me? Anti-Venom.” And with that, the transformation happened in a split second, and Eddie glared at the scorpions, flexing his hands as he was now back in his suit.

[Warbird]

That was quick, Anna thought to herself. It probably had nothing to do with Buster sending an emergency message and everything to do with lucky timing, and she'd have to type up a written report to explain the unnecessary use of the emergency frequency later, but at least she didn't have to wait for help.

Eddie, she already knew, but not too well. He'd joined the team after she started pulling double-shifts with Chrysalis, and he was usually quite quiet...not to mention, a little part of her didn't really want to be around him. She'd been briefed along with the rest of the team about the various symbiotes, and had heard more personal accounts involving the various Venom hosts during her childhood - and although she knew that Eddie's condition wasn't quite the same, and that he maintained control over his Anti-Venom side, it was still unnerving to see the white, slimy tendrils creep over his smiling, warm, normal face, and suddenly find yourself standing in the presence of a monster.

Putting those thoughts to one side, she glanced at him with a reassuring smile, saying, "Heh, I was kinda hoping for the Doc, but I'll take what I can get. Shield your eyes!" With that, she raised one hand over her head, figuring the action would draw the attention of both pseudo-Scorpions...which it did, their tails striking the floor as they hunched their shoulders, preparing to pounce. She wasn't going to give them the chance, however.

With a thought, she funneled as much power as she dared into her raised hand and let it burst without direction. Even keeping her eyes low, she could see it illuminate the room like a rack of spotlights. For the Scorpions, it was like looking into the sun, and they staggered back, raising clawed hands to cradle their heads, blinded...for the moment, at least. No screams, though - if there's men in those suits, what's been done to them?

"Pick one and I'll handle the other!" she called to Anti-Venom, as she lowered her hand and curled it into a fist...

[Anti-Venom II]

Eddie had wondered that, if anyone was close to the Scorpions when they entered the building, would he need to help them? And seeing how it was Anna in the building and near the scorpions, he seriously doubted she needed his help, but it might be worth it to help her anyway. It was hard to fight two opponents at once, and Eddie was sure that she could do it if she tried. However, he was determined to try and take down the Scorpion that had injected him with Osborn's Cure. He was not going to let them disable his symbiote form for a second time.

Chuckling at Anna's comment about wanting Doc, Eddie quickly shut his eyes as a bright light came forth. As he opened his eyes slowly, and he saw that the Scorpions had become temporarily blinded due to the bright flash of energy. However, they hadn't screamed. If they had been genetically modified to feel no pain, then that might be a problem. Flexing the fingers of his right arm, it shifted into a long, elegant blade. He prefered to fight using his fists, but he would also resort to using his blades if he needed to, as it was hard for most people to compete with them.

Grinning as Anna told him to pick one, Eddie zeroed in on the one that had injected the Cure into him. He said "Anna, they've got Osborn's Cure in their stingers! They inject that into me, I lose my suit for a short time." Leaping forward at the Scorpion that had injected the cure into him, he quickly sliced through its stringer, cutting the tail in half. Allowing part of his symbiote form to transform back to his human form, the mask of his suit unravelled until the tentacles were all around his neck. He knew this made Anna uncomfortable, and he said "Sorry. I just need to feel the air on my face, not the mask of the symbiote." With that, he slashed at the Scorpions back. It managed to dive to the side, but Eddie fired a large projectile of webbing towards it.

[Warbird]

Anna bit back her retort about sticking to codenames in public - amateurs! - then paused and considered Eddie's words. Last time she checked, the 'Osborn cure' wasn't public knowledge, so where could these jokers get their cybernetic hands on it? And why bring it here, unless...unless they were specifically looking for trouble?

The thought left a sour taste in her mouth, but she didn't have time to follow it through, as Anti-Venom morphed...grew?...one arm into a blade and sliced through one of the Scorpions' tails. Time to pull your weight, girl. Stepping forwards, she let her gravity-defying powers carry her the 5 metres separating her from her enemy in one quick stride, before stopping herself and letting her momentum transfer into - "Rrrah!" - a straight-armed punch right to the center of her Scorpion's metallic chest-plate. She figured, knowing how strong she was, the shock would stop the wearer's heart for a split second, making him keel over.

That didn't happen; the blow connected firmly, knocking the arachno-cyborg back until it hit the wall and leaving knuckle-shaped dents in its armour, but it still stood, and again made no sound. Anna frowned. These things are well-made. Stolen Stark tech, maybe?

Eddie spoke up then, and she spared him a look to return his smile. "No complaints from me, you're much cuter this wa-AY!" Her voice leaped an octave into a yelp of shock as her target struck out with its long, bladed tail; a hasty step back meant the tip of the blade simply left a long scratch across her chest-plate. Not that sharp objects were usually a match for her durable skin, but from what she'd already seen of the Scorpions, Anna wasn't willing to take chances.

Refocusing her attention, she stood her ground as the cyborg's tail swung back the way it came - and, stepping into the swing, she caught the tail's end with her arms. The cyborg quickly realised its mistake and tried to pull free, but Anna dug her heels in, and with a grunt of effort, spun around in a circle, swinging the Scorpion bodily as she went, before letting go at just the right time to send it skidding into three racks of bras and a jewellery display case. Photon energy began to glow around her fists as she hovered three feet off the floor, looking back over her shoulder to check on her ally...

[Anti-Venom II]

Eddie knew that he should have used Anna's codename and not her real name, and he berated himself in his mind, knowing that such a mistake was a stupid one. But, he had only recently joined the avengers, and he was still getting used to working with other people as a team. However, he was learning how to get on with people and a team, and he knew that if he kept on trying to get along with the team, it might work well. However, he just tried to keep his instabilities and his o0ther negative personality traits to a minimum around them.

Getting his head back into the fight, Eddie cracked his neck, and kept the symbiote suit mask down from his face. He loved feeling the freah air on his face when he was fighting or swinging, but most of the time he had to keep the mask up, to prevent his civillian identity being found out. His thoughts were interrupted, however, as the Scorpion he was fighting managed to launch itself at him.

Diving to the side, Eddie sent a string of webbing after the Scorpion, which attached itself to the Scorpion's back. Reeling in this line, he muttered "Hook, line and sinker." Pulling the mechanical enhanced man towards him, he enlarged his fist, and threw it forward, both the fist and the Scorpion's head connecting, and a bit of a crack could be heard. The Scorpion's helmet had cracked open a bit, and while that was a good sign, it just proved that the Helmet and tail were the weak points of these suits. Looking at Anna, he said "Warbird, attack the tail and the helmet. They are the weakest points of their suits."

Eddie wondered how these two Scorpions could have gotten such advanced suits. It was either stolen Stark technology, or they had managed to gain some old Osborn technology, as well as Osborn's cure. They had probably been waiting for the right moment to attack the new Anti-Venom, to try and prove that Mac Gargan, as Venom all of those years ago, was not some push over and that Anti-Venom had just gotten lucky in his fights. But it wasn't luck that had allowed Eddie Sr to defeat Mac those times. It was the unique properties of the Anti-Venom suit, as well as having superior skills when using the symbiote.

Eddie pivoted towards the fallen Scorpion, and he saw that it had managed to reconnect its tail, which had reconnected perfectly. Eddie was a smart guy, and he knew what had fixed the tail. Adhesive molecules in the tails, merging the molecules back together when they had been sliced apart. This was dangerous, as that meant he could inject Eddie with Osborn's Cure again if he got the chance, damaging the symbiote and causing its host unbelievable pain by attacking his genetic code itself, the very fabric of his DNA, his chromosomes and his body. Allowing his hand to shift into a blade once again, Eddie slashed at the scorpion, but it was quicker, ramming its stinger right into his back, and injecting once again. Screaming in pain, Eddie dropped down and he shifted to human form, his symbiote needing time to regain its genetic integrity and be restored to its former power. Looking up, he said "Warbird, any suggestions??" Unless he used the strength of his suit in his human form, he had no chance of matching these Scorpions blow for blow.

[Warbird]

Watching Anti-Venom - Eddie - smash his current opponent with a size-shifted fist, Anna couldn't help but make a little impressed 'huh' noise. New guy's got some moves - and you know what they say about men with big hands, right? She smiled ruefully at her own sense of humour, something she thought she'd beaten out of herself already, then listened as Eddie spoke. He was actually sharing valuable intel as he fought, which Anna appreciated, and certainly put paid to her 'amateur' mental dismissal.

"Heads and tails, right," she acknowledged, then flew over to the Scorpion she'd just thrown across the room. It had gotten up fast, which didn't really surprise her at this point, and still showed no ill effects from the fight. Anna was going to change that, though. Dropping to the floor without slowing down, she dropped to her knees and slid the last few feet across the linoleum, leaning back as she saw the Scorpion move - and hearing the hiss of parted air as it swung its claws into the space where her head had been moments before - before she raised one foot and firmly kicked the Scorpion in its torso with a resounding clang! The cyborg doubled over, and Anna popped back up to her feet then put the thing in a headlock with one arm; it tugged at her grip firmly, but weakened after she struck it in the face with her free fist. Splinters of tinted fibreglass flew from the impact, and Anna got her first look at the face behind the mask. So they're definitely human, at least partially - the face was pale and drawn, and its eyes were coated with thick, milky cataracts that unnerved her...

Then Eddie yelled her name, and she looked up, seeing him down on all fours with the other Scorpion drawing its stinging blade out from his back. His symbiote had retreated, presumably by force, leaving him defenseless - 25 feet away, I can make it if this guy doesn't - a mechanical whine from over he shoulder made her glance that way; the Scorpion she was fighting had its tail aimed for her head, and she could feel the concentrated cold of its freeze-cannon charging a blast...and then she smiled as an idea slid into place.

Releasing her headlock, Anna turned and grabbed the Scorpion's tail with both hands, keeping her head away from its business end as the blue-white blast of frigid energy began to spew out; and, forcing it to move against its will, she bent the tail around and aimed it back towards the other Scorpion as it raised its claws against Eddie. Taken by surprise, the second Scorp didn't get a chance to dodge before the freeze-blast washed across its exoskeleton, locking its arms in place at the shoulders and constricting its neck before the first Scorpion realised its error and shut off the weapon. "That good enough for you, A-V?" she called. The Scorpion wasn't beaten, but hopefully it was slowed down enough to let Eddie recharge his slimier side -

Then the tail she was holding gave an almighty jerk and threw her up against the ceiling - "Wooof!" - reminding Anna that her adversary wasn't down for the count yet either...

[Anti-Venom II]

Eddie only needed a few minutes before his symbiote regained its genetic integrity and fixed all of the genetic and cellular damage that it had taken when it had been injected with Osborn's Cure. However, in those few minutes, there was a chance that the Scorpion he was fighting might kill him, because he only could access one tenth of any of his powers full power in his human form, when using the symbiotes powers in that form, and right now the powers would be even weaker. As the Scorpion reared its tail back, Eddie made a quick decision. When the Scorpion tried to stab him with its stringer, Eddie rolled to the side, escaping the stinger by using the reflexes of the symbiote form, but in his human form.

Eddie looked in gratitude at Anna as she managed to use the Scorpion she was fighting against to her advantage, by using an attack that had been meant for her on the Scorpion Eddie himself was fighting. When she asked how that was, he said “Thank you for that WB.” He had used her codename in initials as it sounded cool that way, as well as the fact she had also used his codename in initials. Standing up, the pain from Osborn's Cure had completely faded from his system, and while he thought he would need a few more seconds before he could transform back into his symbiote form and repay the Scorpion for all the pain that it had caused him so far. Looking at the Scorpion, he grinned as he saw that it was still bound, due to its exoskeleton being frozen in place.

Walking forward, Eddie allowed his symbiote to spring forth, but he kept it unravelled from his face, as he preferred the air on his face right now. Cracking his neck, he turned on the balls of his feet, as he heard Anna let out a sound of pain. He saw that she was hurt, and the Scorpion had managed to hurt her. Forcing his hands to shift into knifes, he detached them, forcing them into separate weapons. They would be as hard as diamonds, and they they might be able to pierce the exoskeleton's of the Scorpion's. Launching the symbiotic knives at the Scorpion that was fighting Anna. With any luck, they'd connect with its back or tail. Pivoting back to his own Scorpion enemy, Eddie got ready to fight, as the Scorpion was free from its frozen prison, and it was standing. He could make out its mouth from its cracked helmet, and the man underneath was snarling.

Walking forward, Eddie allowed his mask to come forth once again. He would only have it back up for a couple of minutes. As the Scorpion tried to stab him with its stinger again, Eddie got sick of it using its freaking tail against him, and grabbed the tail by the stinger. Using the full extent of his fifty ton strength, he ripped the tail from the costume, and transformed his arm into a blade, and sliced the tail several times. He then launched it into a slightly open elevator shaft. Allowing his mask to unravel, and allowing all of the strands to go to his neck. Punching the Scorpion's helmet, it cracked open fully, and Eddie said “Never wound, what you can't kill Scorpion.” After he said that, he kicked the Scorpion in the chest, sending him flying into a wall.

[Warbird]

The Scorpion tugged its tail free, and Anna fell face-first to the floor before she could stop herself. Okay...I am willing to admit that one hurt. She pushed herself up to her hands and knees - but then one massive steel hand clamped around her head and began to squeeze. The fingertips couldn't hope to puncture her toughened skin, but the sheer pressure being applied was agonising; gritting her teeth, Anna tried to generate a photon blast, but she couldn't concentrate hard enough...

Skrunch!

And then suddenly the pain lessened. Peeking out from between her attacker's metallic fingers, Anna saw the Scorpion reach for its chest and remove a jagged knife coloured black-&-white, clearly from the Anti-Venom suit, although its wearer was still 25 feet away. So, symbiote goo as hardened projectiles too? Impressive, mister Brock. Her head was clearing up quickly, so when the Scorpion dropped the dagger from his grip and reached to remove another stuck in his shoulder, Anna made her move.

Her hand snapped out and grabbed the dagger before it hit the floor - oh yuck it feels so slimy - then she twisted it around in her palm and swung upwards, driving the point home in the middle of her enemy's forearm. Whatever armour it sported wasn't enough; the blade pierced it, clear through to stick out the other side. Even then the Scorpion made no sound, though it retracted its arm in shock - which was enough for Anna. No more kid gloves, she thought grimly, pulling the dagger free again and returning to her feet.

Injured or not, the Scorpion lashed out with its right arm, talons extended. Anna stood her ground and let the sharpened points shatter harmlessly against her side, then grabbed the offending arm - "It wasn't enough to not feel pain, your bosses had to make you stupid too?" - and leapt up, bringing one knee up to strike the cyborg's jaw as she floated over its head then thudded to the floor behind it, and using her strength and momentum to throw the Scorp over her shoulder. It crashed to the floor so hard she could feel the shudders through her boots. Then, before it could rise again - and Anna didn't doubt that it could - she stepped over its body and slammed the dagger down through its tail, pinning the metal coil to the ground.

Stepping back for a moment, she spared Anti-Venom another look, suddenly worried if he needed help - but, seeing him with the upper hand and kicking his adversary back against a wall, she realised with a twinge of embarassment that he seemed to be doing better than she was. Don't be like that, it's not a competition, she reminded herself, before returning to the more pressing issue.

Her Scorpion was slower to rise than she'd expected; evidently it was dazed, or perhaps tiring. Either way, when it tried to move, it couldn't get far with its tail pinned. After a few tugs, it peered back over its shoulder, but Anna caught its attention back with a whistle...and as its head turned back to face her, Anna shoved one hand through the shattered visor and pressed it against the operator's face. She concentrated - and with a sound like a gunshot, fired a point-blank photon blast to the head of the man in the suit.

The Scorpion's arms went limp, and it slumped over Anna's fist. She held onto it long enough to make sure that the man inside was still alive - can't tell if he's breathing, but his pulse is steady - then lowered the cyborg to the floor. Clearing her throat, she called across the room - "All done on this end, how're you managing, A-V?"

[Anti-Venom II]

Eddie grinned as he saw that his knives had managed to hurt the Scorpion that was trying to hurt Anna. Rubbing his hands together, he looked at the Scorpion he was fighting. His symbiote was still protecting him, and he could take most of what the Scorpion through at him, due to his symbiote body being extremely durable. Walking forward, Eddie let his symbiote mask cone forth. If the Scorpion attacked him, he wanted to be fully protected from the attacks. Cracking his neck, he saw that the Scorpion had pulled itself out of the wall, and the mask was fully cracked. The man under the Scorpion suit looked pretty angry, and he was extremely pale. I don't think they've seen any sunlight or been exposed to it in a long time. That means they have been forced into these suits, and possibly gone insane, attacking anything and anyone just to pay the world back for the pain they have felt. This were Eddie's personal thoughts.

The Scorpion leapt towards Eddie, and he quickly dived away to the side, as the Scorpion flew into a wall. Pivoting and looking at his enemy, the young symbiote hybrid forced his arms to shift into blades, giving him two more weapons to use against the Scorpion. The Scorpion roared at Eddie and leapt towards him, a compartment in the chest of its armour opened. Eddie gasped as he saw it was a cannon, and he could sense there was some more of that damned cure inside of the cannon. As he fired a large needle from the cannon, Eddie had no choice but to grab it. Quickly shifting his hand back, he grabbed the needle, and he dropped to the floor, steps away from the Scorpion. Looking at the needle, he saw it was an automatic injecting one. The minute it made contact, it injected. And this could have proven fatal to Eddie, as a third injection might have triggered a bout of unstable rage, showing his mental instabilities to Anna, which could cause her to lose any trust she had in him.

Quickly getting to his feet, Eddie looked at the Scorpion. The cannon was getting ready to fire another needle, and Eddie only had one solution. Dropping the one he was holding, and he quickly sent his fist forward. A thick rope of webbing shot out from his black patch on his fist, and spun around the cannon, clogging it and preventing any more needles from being fired. Eddie said “In case you are thinking of firing any more needles, you'll blow up that cannon due to the sheer tensile strength and power of that webbing.” Allowing the mask to unravel, he heard Warbirds question and he said “I'm handling this one fine. One thing though, they seemed to be angry with the world, due to all the pain and torture they have suffered. That just makes them more deadly.”

But as he said this, Eddie felt something wrong with him. He was having trouble focusing right now, and the suit was beginning to fade. Focusing, he forced the symbiote form to stay. He realized what it was. In all the years he had been Anti-Venom II, he had never stayed in his symbiotic form more than a total of twelve hours, so it couldn't be that. But he had never stayed with the mask or any part of it down for more than twenty minutes. The sheer strain of balancing the human parts, and symbiote form, was not easy, and he had never tried to train himself to do this, as it had never seemed an important thing. But now, it could cause him to lose some of his focus, which was important. Stepping forward, he punched the Scorpion in the stomach, throwing him into a wall. This time, however, the Scorpion passed out. It's pain receptors may have been altered, but it was still as frail as any man. To regain his focus and steady his feeling of sickness right now, he called his mask forth, covering his face completely.

[Warbird]

Anna gave her opponent a count of 5, just to be on the safe side - but it was down and, seemingly, out. Finally. However tough it was, she suspected the difficulty of the fight was as much her fault as anyone's; there had been plenty of action recently, but only against regular criminals with minimal or no powers. She hadn't noticed it, but she was getting soft. That wouldn't do, not for an Avenger...

Speaking of criminals...Anna blinked, then took a look around the room - "Dammit," she cursed to herself, finding no trace of the breaking-and-entering criminals she'd put down before the Scorps showed up. They must've used the confusion to escape while Eddie and me were occupied - ugh, Kate's gonna chew me out over this one. She winced at the thought of receiving a dressing-down from her team leader; it didn't happen much, but whenever it did she always felt miserable afterwards, seeing it as a failure to live up to the standards of both herself and, more importantly, her mother. Ms. Marvel would never make a rookie mistake like forgetting to restrain a beaten enemy. That was one of the reasons why Anna didn't take that name. She wasn't ready for it yet.

Eddie's voice snapped her out of her thoughts, and she willed herself into the air, gliding over to him as he squared off with his enemy again. She thought his analysis was a little perfunctory, but it was good to know he was putting some thought into what was happening and why. "In fairness, if somebody forced you to dress like these guys, you'd be angry too..." Her tone was light, but not too frivolous - she didn't want to distract Eddie at a dangerous moment...and for a second, as he took an oddly lurching step forwards, she thought she'd done just that. Fortunately, he kept his wits about him long enough to smash the Scorpion back against the wall once more, and this time it looked like staying down for good.

"Nice work," she commented, letting herself drop to the floor beside her partner-in-crimefighting, and gave him a good look. Now that he was standing still, she could make out the details of his symbiote suit a lot more clearly; the enhanced muscle-mass building over his own body, the way the jagged black patches actually shifted position from one moment to the next, and the dull glow coming from within the red eye-lenses. More importantly, though, she could see he was breathing erratically, and there was something...off...about how he stood. Weird, he seemed fine barely a minute ago. Reaching out and suppressing a grimace, she rested one hand on his shoulder, the symbiote skin feeling cold and clammy through her leather glove. "Are you okay?"

[Anti-Venom II]

Eddie's breathing had become erratic, as even though he had called his mask forth, the strain was still there. He had know idea why though. It was causing his body to choose a form to stay in for a while, either the symbiote form or his human form. He could hold this off for at least another twenty minutes to half an hour, and he was going to choose a form very soon, within the next few minutes. Looking around as he noticed Anna do the same, he wondered if there had been anything else that she was dealing with before these Scorpions burst into this place. However, at that very minute, Eddie gasped as his legs gave under him, and he fell onto his back.

Looking up at the ceiling, Eddie knew something was definitely wrong. Either his symbiote form was trying to take over, or he was just extremely tired. However, even if he was extremely tired, his legs would not have given under him, and he was usually fine. But he had no idea what was causing this right now. Looking at the ceiling, his breathing was still erratic, and he was a bit paler than usual under his symbiote form. Changing back to his human form, the paleness was now clear, and his breathing was becoming shallower as well as more erratic. He felt like he was going to pass out soon.

Rubbing his face softly, Eddie heard Anna ask if he was okay. He knew she would see he wasn't okay, and he had felt her put a hand on his shoulder before he had collapsed. Looking up at her, he said “I don't think I am. I feel like I can't stand up, and I feel like something is wrong with my genetic code itself. Trying to keep some of my human form in my symbiote form caused some sort of strain on my DNA and genetics, and it isn't just that....I think the Osborn's Cure is having a late reaction, making me sick because I'm part symbiote. Its causing some sort of attack on both my immune system and nervous system. Its not fatal, but its going to make me sick and incoherent for a while.” And even as he said that, Eddie could feel both his conscious state and coherent thought process.

Looking up at Anna, Eddie said “Anna, I think I'm going to be needing to stay at Stark tower for a while. And you are going to need to take me there because I can't really move or think clearly.” And after he said that, Eddie passed out. However, his body reverted to its symbiote form, as while the symbiote was mindless, it did have a survival instinct for itself and Eddie. He would recover faster in his symbiote form, but he might be stuck as it for a bit. Breathing shallowly, Eddie's body didn't look like his distinctive symbiote form. Right now, it was more like a second skin, covering his body like a Spider-Man suit, but also making it more leather like.

[Warbird]

"Are you okay?"

Almost as soon as the words left Anna's lips, a pained gasp escaped from Anti-Venom's jagged maw and he collapsed to the floor, making Anna jump in shock. She stood stock-still for agonising moments, wanting to help but still wary of the symbiote's freakish appearance and unpredictable powers...until it receded away, leaving just regular Eddie in its place. Sinking to her knees at his side, Anna noticed the deathly pallor of his skin, and she took one of his arms in her grasp gingerly as he touched his cheek with the other hand. Pulse is elevated, and he's picked up a temperature - "I think you're getting a fever from...something, sorry, I'm not a very good medic..."

Eddie didn't seem to hear her, but his eyes were clear and his voice firm as he explained the situation. Most of the details flew over Anna's head - you lost me at 'genetic' - but she figured he knew what he was talking about; Eddie seemed to have a much better handle on the ins and outs of his powers than she had on hers, so if he said this wouldn't kill him, he was probably right. Even so, his request made her think twice. "I dunno if I should be moving you right now, Eddie; you don't look up to the stra-AH!" She cut herself off as Eddie, closing his eyes, was suddenly concealed by his symbiote form again, slithering over his clothes in an instant. Crap, am I ever gonna get used to that? The slimy suit was different this time, simpler and...less scary. Anna still didn't want to touch it, even as she lowered her head over his chest, listening as he breathed in and out. Shallow, but not laboured or restricted. That's a good sign, right?

Looking back over her shoulder, Anna frowned as the logistics of the situation stacked up. She had two large, bulky cyborg beasties down for the count, which she'd like to have analysed by...someone; her first instinct would be the tech guys at Chrysalis, but then she also had to take Eddie to Stark Tower, and there would probably be some research staff there, not to mention Doc Banner. He'd come up with something, she was certain of that much. Even so, she only had two arms, and three guys to carry. The weight wasn't the problem, it just wouldn't be possible to hold all three securely in mid-flight without dropping them...

Eddie couldn't stay here. Even if someone didn't accidentally try and take him to a hospital, Anna doubted the press would react kindly to someone being found at a crime scene wearing a symbiote suit. So I guess that means leaving one of the Scorpions behind, she thought, sucking her teeth.

Standing up, she stepped over to the broken windows and peered outside. A few dozen camera flashes erupted from the growing crowd gathered by the front of the building, but she ignored them, instead noting the position of the armoured car the criminals had evidently left behind. Perfect. With a floating leap, Anna crossed the room to the Scorpion she'd been fighting and removed the symbiote dagger from its tail, then lifted it bodily off the floor with one hand and walked back to the window. As she came closer to Eddie, the dagger in her hand somehow liquified, dribbled to the floor, then slipped across and merged with his suit - ew, again. Shaking her head, Anna held the Scorpion out before her, letting it hang out of the building - and, after making sure she was 'aiming' at the right spot, she let go and watched it fall.

There were a few cries of shock from the crowd before -

WHAM!

- it landed, smashing straight through the armoured car's roof and breaking the vehicle's suspension. Anna figured the Scorpion armour would keep the wearer from being harmed - and if not, it's a goddamn killer arachnid cyborg guy. My heart bleeds. She turned back to Eddie and grabbed one of his limp arms, then heaved him gently up across her right shoulder; her cheek brushed the cold, clammy material of the symbiote and she shuddered, then she reached out to the second Scorpion and grabbed it by the back of its collar, which felt secure enough to hold it by. Then, she turned back to the window and took off.

Anna spared one look back at the crowd on the ground as she went; the cops were approaching the armoured van warily, but there didn't seem to be any sign of activity from the Scorp inside it. Hope he stays like that 'til they stick him in a cell at the Raft. Looking back up again - "Whoa!" - Anna swerved in midair to avoid a news helicopter, then continued on at a fast pace, carrying both teammate and beaten enemy towards Stark Tower...

>>>To be continued in new thread<<<