Facing Peni's SP//dr, Riot roared, spreading its arms as they morphed into twin hammers. It dipped into a crouch, ready to spring and smash down on Peni.
"Roar~!"
But in the next instant, a dark shape lunged from behind.
Venom vaulted onto Riot's back, one arm cinched around its throat while the other hammered away with brutal blows.
"Roar~!"
Riot bellowed in fury. It had to retract its weapon-arms, then twisted to grapple Venom and trade punches.
Riot's body was far tougher than Venom's, and it had just gorged on several people—its energy reserves were full. No matter the timing, Venom couldn't beat Riot in a straight one-on-one.
But Peni was still there.
Catching the rhythm of their brawl, Peni drove the mech in with a Starburst Air Slash—a straight-up dual chainsaw strike.
"Schk—schk! Schk—schk! Schk—schk~!"
The relentless sound of slicing flesh rippled across Riot's body.
With its scream—
"Schk!"—one of Riot's arms was lopped clean off by the SP//dr.
"Roar~!!"
"Ah~!"
"Ah!"
In that instant, both Riot and Norman Osborn inside it cried out in pain.
Venom seized the opening, grabbed the torn stump at Riot's shoulder, and ripped with everything he had.
"Riiip~!"
"Ah!!!"
With gelatinous flesh splitting, Venom tore open half of Riot's torso in one go, exposing Norman Osborn's shoulder and half his face.
Osborn's features twisted as he glared at Venom and roared,
"No one can stop my plan!
No one!"
As he shouted, Riot's other arm turned into a blade—and drove sideways through Venom's body.
"What about me, symbiote?"
Peni's voice rang out beside Riot. Its eyes widened. It flung Venom away and lashed back—only to meet two lances coming straight in.
Thud! Thud!
In an instant, two holes punched through Riot's mass.
"You!"
Riot hadn't expected it. Tiny as she looked, Peni could switch tactics on a dime. Sure, one killer move can carry you far—but there are plenty of ways to use it. Peni had simply changed the recipe.
"Hehe~" Peni winked, playful.
"There's more."
Thud!
Spikes sprouted along the lance shafts and spun up fast.
"Roar~!"
Terrified, Riot sprang back hard, leaving part of its liquid mass behind. Its power would drop, yes—but getting churned by that meat-grinder lance would be the real end.
On the platform, Gwen held up her phone toward the battlefield, gesturing with her free hand while chattering nonstop.
"Lorien, look—Peni's moves are so smooth, and the SP//dr's way more agile now."
"And Cindy and Mayday—those two are practically pressing their symbiotes into the ground. One-on-one, after their upgrades, the symbiotes can't match them."
So that was it: Gwen had a video call open with Lorien, and the camera was on the heart of the fight.
Under Lorien and Wanda's gaze, they watched Venom and Peni lay into Riot.
Meanwhile, on the other side, Cindy and Mayday each had a symbiote pinned down. It wasn't a total stomp, but overall, they were handling things with ease.
"Not bad at all."
Lorien nodded with satisfaction. The nano-suit's capabilities weren't being wasted here. Spider-Women were meticulous, achieving even greater synergy when piloting the suit. Their efficiency was also superior.
"Not bad, huh? Hehe~" Gwen laughed happily. "The Spider-Alliance's combat power is skyrocketing now. We'll only get stronger."
Gwen kept giggling, but after two seconds, there was still no response from the other end.
"?"
Puzzled, she turned her phone.
On the screen, Wanda had her arms around Lorien and was passionately kissing him.
"Wanda!"
"You're dead!"
Gwen nearly ground her teeth to dust. They had been talking business a moment ago—what was she doing?!
On the other end of the call, Wanda let go of Lorien, then pulled out another phone to show Gwen the time.
"Gwen, check the time. You're slacking, but I still have work to do."
Not that kind of work—but just as intense.
Hearing that, Gwen's smile reached her ears. She didn't say a word. She opened the comm channel inside her nanotech battle suit and ordered,
"Hurry it up, ladies!"
Cindy and Mayday replied over the channel.
"What's up?"
"Just finish it quickly. I'll handle cleanup later."
With that, Gwen glanced at Wanda on the screen, shot her a "just you wait" look, then winked at Lorien. Finally, she hung up.
Putting her phone away, Gwen stood on the platform, waiting out the last few minutes. Before the rocket launched, this would be wrapped up.
...
Meanwhile, Riot glanced at the rocket as it preheated. Only 4:30 remained on the countdown.
Venom and Peni had already beaten him into a sorry state—Venom soaking damage and disrupting, Peni pouring on relentless firepower. He couldn't keep this up.
Maybe he should just get on the rocket and go home.
Riot looked at the rocket, then over to where Scream and Phage were fighting. The sight made his gut drop.
Both symbiotes were on their last legs. Parts of their hosts were exposed through their thinning outer layers—symbiote tissue running out, energy reserves spent.
"What??"
Were those two girls really that strong? Two mutated girls, manhandling two symbiotes?
No.
Riot realized he couldn't win this fight. He had to stall and make a run for it.
He tangled with Venom and Peni while edging toward the rocket. Time flew. The launch window had been set for ten minutes total—now four minutes left, then three, then two.
Watching the countdown, Gwen set her recording phone on the platform, framing the field with an ultra–wide-angle shot.
Then she said over the channel,
"The rocket's about to launch. Finish what you can. I'm going to wrap this up."
Cindy and Mayday replied in unison,
"It's handled on my end."
That left Peni.
Gwen looked her way.
Peni answered quickly,
"This thing's been dodging from the start! It's heading for the rocket now!"
The rocket?
Can't win, so it's running?
From afar, Gwen watched Riot. Sure enough, it was fighting while retreating, angling straight for the rocket.
But... what good would that do? Was the rocket indestructible?
The timer hit the final minute.
Cindy and Mayday reported in over the channel at the same moment.
"Captain Gwen, mission accomplished."
"Captain Gwen, it's done!"
Gwen looked over.
Scream and Phage had already collapsed into formless puddles of liquid on the ground. The hosts inside them had been drained dry, their insides devoured by the symbiotes.
As for Riot—
Once the final minute of the countdown began, it scrambled toward the rocket. With both hands and feet, it clawed its way up the hull.
"Back to the homeworld!"
If it returned to the symbiote planet and revealed that Earth was nothing but food, endless numbers of symbiotes would come to slaughter.
Venom leapt after it, desperate to stop Riot from making it back.
But the moment Riot saw Venom closing in, spikes burst violently from its back.
Pfft!
Venom was impaled instantly, his body riddled like a honeycomb. The spikes retracted at once, and Venom fell heavily back down.
"Damn it!" Peni grit her teeth.
"Why won't this thing die?"
Cindy and Mayday exchanged baffled looks.
"Ours were easy enough. Cut off their limbs a few times, and they can't fight anymore."
"But this one just won't go down."
Yes. Peni had realized it too—Riot was much harder to kill than the others.
Why?
She readied the Spider-Mech Warrior for another strike, but Gwen's voice cut through the comm channel.
"Enough, Peni. You've done great. Riot's the strongest of the three, that's why I had you and Venom take him together."
"You and Venom fall back. Let Riot board the rocket—he'll serve as the fuse for the fireworks."
With Gwen's words, the three girls finally understood.
So Riot really was the strongest?
Damn—we picked the wrong targets too early. If only we'd gone straight for him.
Peni waved to Venom from a distance.
"Hey, come back. Captain says he's not getting away."
"?"
Venom froze, caught off guard. He was about to protest when Eddie's voice echoed inside.
"Trust them, Venom."
"Why?" Venom asked, unsettled.
Trust was a luxury he could never afford. What if trusting them meant Riot really did make it back?
But Peni didn't wait for an answer. She turned away and rejoined Cindy and Mayday.
Eddie quickly pressed the point.
"Use your brain. If it were a lie, and Riot escaped, wouldn't that just create more trouble?"
"Wouldn't the Spider-Alliance and the Avengers have to deal with it then?"
"Why would they trick us?"
Venom thought it over. True. They had no reason to lie and let Riot escape.
His gaze flicked to the distant remains of Scream and Phage—nothing more than black sludge now. That made it even clearer.
But as he looked at the corpses of his own kind, Venom's body shrank slightly. The strongest one hadn't even moved yet. If the Black Necrosword joined in, they'd have died even faster.
After a moment of hesitation, Venom turned and ran after the three girls.
While sprinting, he muttered a reminder.
"I don't have a brain."
"?"
Eddie was confused at first—then realized Venom was clapping back at his earlier "use your brain" comment.
...
BOOM~~~!
The roar of the rocket launch thundered from behind them. A blinding light surged, accompanied by deafening sound and waves of searing air.
From inside the cockpit, Riot looked down at the ground and roared in excitement.
"Wait for the symbiote army!"
The rocket had already climbed several hundred meters.
But in the very next instant, a crushing sense of death welled up inside Riot.
Not just him—Venom collapsed on the ground, trembling uncontrollably.
"What's wrong?" Eddie asked in a panic.
Whoosh~!
A black-glowing streak cut across the sky, soaring past hundreds of meters above Venom—then, in less than half a second, it was back.
When Venom lifted his head again—
"NO!!"
Riot's horrified, furious roar rang out.
BOOM~~~!
The rocket exploded.