With a hum, countless blades of energy materialized around Pietro. Rather than attacking Peter Parker, these blades formed a strange resonance in the air.
"Zzzzz!" The resonance quickly transformed into an invisible sonic wave, spreading throughout the training room.
Peter's reaction was slow compared to Venom. As soon as the sonic wave emerged, Venom felt it instantly.
"Ahhh!" Venom shrieked in pain and quickly retracted into Parker's body, causing the combat suit to vanish. The thick, sticky substance that had trapped Pietro disappeared as well.
"Bang!" Pietro's punch landed squarely, sending Peter Parker flying and crashing to the ground. Peter looked dazedly at Pietro, unsure of what had just happened.
"Sorry, I just happened to think of a way to counter your symbiote. Hope I didn't hurt you," Pietro said with a mischievous grin, barely containing his laughter. It was clear to anyone who saw him that Pietro was thoroughly enjoying himself.
"You thought of this earlier, didn't you? This wasn't just a spur-of-the-moment idea during the fight!" Peter retorted after regaining his composure, rolling his eyes in irritation.
Peter was now sure that Pietro had this strategy in mind from the moment he suggested the fight. He had been eager to show off his cleverness before Peter could figure out how to counter the symbiote's weaknesses with Tony Stark.
"If you and Stark had cracked the symbiote's weaknesses, my plan would be useless. I had to test it out on you first!" Pietro's smugness was evident.
"Wow, Pietro had this trick up his sleeve. Impressive!" The Avengers outside the training room were also smiling. They had to admit that Pietro's quick thinking was quite sharp, even if his grin was a bit too smug.
"See, even without a direct counter, you can still find ways to deal with Venom. Now that his weaknesses are out in the open, it's much easier for us to handle him," Tony Stark observed, looking at Peter but clearly referring to Venom.
Stark's trust in Peter was solid, but Venom, who had previously taken over Parker's body, wasn't so easily trusted. Stark was cautious by nature and didn't quickly trust anyone, especially not an alien symbiote like Venom.
Although Venom tried to present himself as harmless, Stark wasn't convinced. Further study of Venom was a necessary step. Stark wasn't just motivated by distrust; he was also intrigued by the potential innovations Venom could inspire.
Stark had been fascinated by how Venom transformed into a combat suit. This biological adaptation aligned with his vision of portable armor. Although Stark's approach leaned heavily towards technology, he believed he could derive valuable insights from Venom's biology.
"Go ahead and laugh. Don't hold back and give yourself a hernia!" Peter quipped as he and Pietro exited the training room. Seeing the Avengers' amused expressions, he couldn't help but be a little annoyed.
"Ahahaha!" The Avengers burst into laughter, the atmosphere light and joyful.
"Alright, that's enough. Everyone back to work. Peter and I have to dig into this Venom issue," Tony Stark interrupted, eager to start his research. He didn't want another Avenger figuring out a new way to counter Venom before he had a chance to study him.
"Good luck, Peter. If you don't sort this out, you might end up fighting solo and unable to join us in battle," Johnny Storm advised seriously.
In the past, as New York's friendly neighborhood hero, Peter Parker had been the most active Avenger, dealing primarily with common crises and keeping a distance from superhuman conflicts.
However, as time passed, Parker was bound to encounter challenges beyond his solo capabilities, like the recent spider-related incident involving Richard Parker. In those moments, collaborating with the Avengers was crucial.
If Parker couldn't resolve the Venom issue, he would have to fight alone, significantly limiting his effectiveness. The Avengers hoped Parker could overcome this hurdle and continue to benefit from both his thunder abilities and Venom's enhancements.
The Avengers' collective strength would benefit from Peter mastering these powers, fostering healthy competition and improving their ability to handle superhuman threats. They joined the Avengers not out of a love for dealing with such events but to prevent them from affecting more people, including themselves.
"I'll do my best," Peter acknowledged. He knew he had a long way to go, but he had found a path to grow stronger. This was more than could be said for some of his teammates like Johnny Storm and Barry Allen, who hadn't yet found their own ways to gain more power.
Peter had already been fortunate to enhance his abilities twice, while Storm and Allen hadn't had any such opportunities. Pietro and Lorna had also seen significant power boosts through chance encounters, unlike Storm and Allen, who were still seeking their paths to strength.
Opportunities for growth were unpredictable. When Pietro and Lorna had their chance encounters, they almost believed they would die. Though Wanda's protection played a role, Pietro and Lorna themselves were unaware of it, making their experiences unique.
When Peter received the power of Mjolnir, it seemed relatively easy, but losing the hammer made that opportunity mostly obsolete. Despite gaining the power of lightning, he had strayed from the path of chi, balancing gains and losses.
During the Naxi spider incident, if Parker hadn't embraced the power of lightning, he might have gained more from Naxi's control. Even if he couldn't retain all the enhancements, he would have found a clear direction for future growth.
However, Parker had to give up this path due to his alignment with the power of lightning.
His encounter with Venom was another high-risk opportunity. If Robert hadn't intervened and pulled Venom out, Parker might not have harmonized with the symbiote so well. These chances for growth came with significant risks.
Eventually, Johnny Storm and the others left the base. The next phase was for Peter and Tony Stark to delve into their research. While some Avengers could have been helpful, like Morbius with his biological expertise, the others found little utility in this scenario.
Barry Allen, despite his intelligence, didn't have much to offer here and quickly departed to continue his search for strength.
Robert and Kara were also uninterested in scientific research. Kara might have glanced at the study if it involved supernatural power, but Venom's unique abilities didn't appeal to her. Even if Robert wanted to mimic or learn from Venom, there wasn't much he could extract.
However, Robert wasn't without tasks. After dealing with the aftermath of the Spider-Man incident, Constantine had found some leads. Or rather, Hellboy had uncovered some clues.
The last time, during Naxi's control over Peter Parker, Constantine mentioned that Hellboy had found traces of Seradar. Unfortunately, without Robert's supervision, Constantine couldn't locate Seradar on his own.
Without Robert's oversight, Constantine wasn't inclined to use tracking magic to find Seradar ahead of Hellboy.
Fortunately, Constantine had some luck. After Robert resolved the spider incident's fallout, Hellboy finally pinpointed Seradar's location. Constantine promptly informed Robert, who instructed Constantine to keep a close watch. Once Peter's situation was handled, Robert planned to check if Constantine was still on track.
"What's the situation now?" Robert asked as he joined Constantine, using a portal to catch up. The portal's convenience was the only reason Constantine could keep up with Hellboy's progress without being left behind.
While dealing with the spider incident, Robert had sensed a presence similar to Hellboy's, but it wasn't his exact aura. Instead, it was related to Hellboy.
It was someone hiding among the spider people, trying to obscure their identity and approach Robert. Whether they intended to gather information or launch a sneak attack, they failed when Robert instantly turned them into a mist of blood with a single punch. This display of force quelled any rebellious thoughts among the spider people, who then quietly followed Robert out of the base.
A classic case of making an example out of someone.
Reflecting on this now, as he arrived at Constantine's side, Robert realized his earlier suspicion was likely correct. It seemed that some official entities were experimenting with Hellboy-related demonic research.
Robert was unsure how many such experimental subjects existed within these official bodies. Were they purely studying Hellboy's abilities, or were they also experimenting with the demons that appeared during the dimensional rift incident?
If it was just successful research, Robert wasn't too concerned. Hell-dimension entities, even if they were laboratory creations, were not his match. However, his worry lay with those experiments that appeared successful but were not entirely under control.
These unstable experiments could cause unpredictable chaos and might even produce subjects capable of exhibiting true Hell Lord-level combat power on Earth.
If that happened, it would be a serious problem.
Mephisto's inability to overpower Robert on Earth was largely due to his avatar's nature and the Earth's dimensional limitations on his power. But an experimental subject from an official lab wouldn't be subject to such constraints. Being native to Earth, they could fully utilize their strength, similar to the masked figures from the Shadow Legion.
A genuine Hell Lord-level being operating on Earth would be far more dangerous than Mephisto's avatar...
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