It hurt and it put me out of commission for a few days. I couldn't stay out of commission for too long, though. As much as I hated it, the coppers had come to rely on me to keep petty crime down and deal with any enhanced that might pop up.
It seemed like the world went still following the announcement, though and all the news outlets could do was speak of his death.
But then Claire had contacted me the evening of July 12, "There's been a string of kidnappings. The police only recently made connections between them."
And so I was donning my suit and flinging myself out our window.
"Any other details?" I questioned.
"Young men. Usually freshly homeless or about to be."
I hum, "Whoever is taking them might be enticing them with money, perhaps? Is there any connection on how they end up homeless?"
"Hm, now that you mention it." There was silence for a few moments, "Yep, here it is. Medical debt."
I immediately frown, "Definitely enticed by money or something. God damn capitalism. Do you have a general location or do I need to check out the spots they disappeared at?"
"No, the police have done most of the work. They just need help infiltrating the place and locating the men."
That brought me to a stop on a roof, "Did they ask specifically for my help?"
Silence before, "No. But apparently all their best operatives are out doing something 'more important.'"
I could hear the eye roll and quotation marks at the end of her sentence.
I scoff, "Yeah." Of course there was the slim possibility that they legitimately were doing something that was vitality more important. But seriously, what could be more important than a mass disappearance?
Claire finally rattles off the address, which was a small warehouse dock on a private area of the Californian beach.
"Do you know if the owner is aware of this?" I ask as I land on top of the house's roof.
"Gotta be. It would be obvious. I'm digging into the owner's profile now."
I swing over to the warehouse, landing gently on the roof and crawl down towards the high windows. "Why a warehouse, though? That's so cliche and common. Why not just a normal house?" I whisper under my breath.
"Mind on the game, Spidey." Came Claire's exasperated voice.
I roll my eyes and place my hand on the window, pushing it open to wiggle my way in and crawl along the roof.
I tilt my head to look at the ground and hum. Okay, so maybe this place was gonna end up being more than a big single floor warehouse.
The floor was only about seven feet below me. It was clean and brightly lit and I definitely entered a hallway instead of a large room.
"Oh! A lab disguised as a warehouse. How's that for original, my dearest sibling?"
Okay, so maybe I've never heard of that before, "Okay, point. But still. A warehouse? That instantly makes this place sus. Also, a point is knocked for the unlocked window."
My sister laughs a little, "Okay, this place seems to lack security. Or at least, technological security. Nothing for me to hack into to give you an edge or warning, so be careful."
"Roger." Camouflage would be a really useful tool to have right now.
At least my mostly white suit would come in handy for once and it's a rather well known fact that people rarely look up. So I could use that to my advantage.
I glance at doors as I pass, "I'ma be honest and admit I'm at a loss on where to start."
"They appear to be electronic locks. Since I can't connect to the system through security, I'll have to walk you through opening the doors until we can find a server room you can make a back door for me in."
I acknowledge it and crawl down to the closest door, "I can take down enemies as I do this too." I grin.
"Two birds one stone."
I listen carefully as Claire instructs me on what to do to get the lock to malfunction and unlock the door.
The first room was just storage with nothing really of interest in it.
The second room has a scientist and a physical security guard, both of with were webbed up and hung from the ceiling. I snagged the scientist and the security guards id to hopefully save time with glitching out the doors.
From there it was a very meticulous and boring process of opening doors and tying up anyone who might've been in them.
Luck seemed to be on our side when I finally found the server room on this floor. "Yes!" I hiss as the id grants me access to the room and I saw the dark room with flickering lights.
"Great! They've got some brilliant computer programmers on their team, since whatever they're doing is smothering any kind of signal I could pick up to hack into. Now follow my instructions carefully."
There were a few security guards watching over the place, but they were easy enough to deal with.
I grimace at the flashing lights but quickly get to looking for the one Claire had instructed me to find.
My hands were shaking with nerves, I'd not done something like this before. Even my first clash with Kingpin hadn't needed this level of sneak.
There was no telling what they were doing here. Kingpin appeared to just be working on general strength enhancing drugs, as we had later found out, but this place was a mystery.
I pause when I find the drive Claire had directed me to. I reach up and pull a tiny microchip from the band of my goggles that Claire had made specifically for these kinds of situations.
I squint at the drive, looking for the place to put the chip in before sliding it in.
"Fantastic! Give me a moment to get the schematics of the place. Our first priority is to get those victims free and then deal with whatever the hell they're doing here."
I wait in silence for a few minutes before Claire lets out a horrified gasp, "Alchemax? This is an Alchemax lab?"
I blink, "The fuck is Alchemax?"
My sister scoffs, "Of course you wouldn't know. Alchemax is a quick-rising new company known for producing chemicals, plastics, and agricultural products and services like that. And doing it safely. Or at least, it appeared they were doing this safely and with the environment in mind. It's why so many of our generation support it. We thought they were trying to change things."
I frown, hearing the disappointment in my sister's voice.
"Maybe it's just a rogue group?" I offer softly, trying to be optimistic for her sake.
A sigh, "Definitely not. What they're doing here is approved by the CEO."
I hiss, "Yesh. Sorry this place is a disappointment then."
"We'll need to take down this place first and then build a case to expose it to the public. They don't deserve our support with the shit I cans see they've done."
"Okay. Just tell me what to do."
"Right."
Of the twenty-three men that were taken, five had already been killed in experiments with something they called Venom.
"A sort of alien parasite, Spider. They've had contact with aliens before and never told the public."
"Which is utterly unsurprising."
"Which is unsurprising, yes."
According to Claire, they were trying to bond the creature to a human to make them a sort of one man army that worked for them.
"Tch. It's like they forget humans are spiteful creatures. Even if the symbiote manages to bond with one of them, they're more than likely going to go on a rampage due to their treatment." I sigh as I tie up another scientist.
"Speaking of, you best hurry up and clean up. There's another attempt scheduled in less than thirty. It's on the second floor and you're on the fifth."
I groan and quicken my pace just a bit. Sweeping through the rooms as fast as I can to make sure there were no loose threads.
I finally reached the second floor with two minutes to spare.
"They're taking his vitals, but I can't pinpoint the room." Claire panics.
"Tch. This is fine!" I sing-song to myself rushing from room to room and dealing with the people in them swiftly. And then the screams reached me and I booked it in that direction.
My senses scream at me and my hand flies up to cover the camera in my goggles that let Claire see what I was seeing. Just in time to see a large black and white creature burst through the wall, slamming the head of a scientist (judging by the lab coat) into the wall.
I cringe a little in surprise as the blood splatters against the wall.
My senses wail and I drop to the ground as the monster roars and throws the headless body at me. And now its eyes were locked on me.
"Ah, this is gonna hurt." I crush the camera, ignoring Claire indignant, "Hey!"
She'd yet to see anything so brutal. Even on the night I killed David, I had worn my regular glasses and just kept her in my ear. I had a feeling this was gonna be gorey.
"Make sure Emily is on standby. I've got a feeling I'm not gonna come out of this uninjured." I ordered, leaping over the monster as it charged at me with a roar.
The news plays as Emily stitches the bite mark on thigh from Venom.
"The missing young men have been found. Of the twenty-three men taken, five have been declared dead and one seriously injured."
"This was an incredibly close call, Raph." Emily sighs.
I hum, "Yeah. But I think the risk was worth it. He was scared. They both were, I could tell."
The symbiote and the young man it was now bonded to, Eddie Brock, were both so hurt and scared. I'd managed to calm them down and get them out before I got to the other men and got them out moments before the entire warehouse and the people still tied up inside went up in a massive explosion. A cyanide pill to keep the company from falling with the lab, Claire had said.
"Didn't see it until it was too late."
I'd given the pair my number and address so I'm case they ever needed a place to crash or just wanted food, they could swing by. Claire told me I was stupid for revealing my identity to them so easily but I just shrugged it off. I wanted to make sure those two knew they weren't alone, even if our situations were different.
Emily took my decision in stride though, "I trust you to know what you're doing."
And that made me want to cry a little.
"I appreciate it, really."
She just smiles at me as she finishes the stitching, "Just that shrapnel in your shoulder, right?"
I nod, wincing as she shifts and steps behind me to deal with the metal still lodged there from the explosion shrapnel.
Emily reaches over our bed frame and pulls a dratini plush from the pile on the bed, handing it to me, "bite on this. This'll probably hurt more than the others."
I did as she instructed and almost squealed when she gently began to tug on the metal.
After she removes it and presses a towel against the wound firmly, "In hindsight, I probably should've just yanked it out. To lessen the pain."
I drop the plush from my mouth and growl out, "You think?"
She giggles nervously as she pulls the towel away. "Thank god for your healing factor though. It stops the bleeding quickly." She says.
Admittedly, we learned the hard way that it was best to stitch the wounds, even if it wasn't really needed. Otherwise I'd get a caved scar, which was very disconcerting to feel and look at. (The old bullet wound was also quicker to ache than the rest of my scars I'd gotten since then.)
"That bite scar will look wicked cool though." Emily says.
I laugh, "Remind me to thank Venom when they drop by."