"Guys, Spider-Man is going to be working with us for a while."
Coulson delivered the exciting news to the Bus team, and the entire team became excited. Peter had already met most of them, but Coulson still introduced everyone.
Team leader Phil Coulson, a decorated S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. According to him, his resurrection on the S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier was due to an LMD, not anything else. Peter hadn't even heard about the "Tahiti" project, which was a crucial plot point in the original Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. series.
Field agent Grant Ward, a Level 7 S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, considered one of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s top agents, second only to Black Widow and Hawkeye in field skills. However, he was probably a Hydra agent. Peter had hinted at this to Coulson, and he didn't know if Coulson and Fury had picked up on it and investigated further.
Pilot Melinda May, a former field agent who was now just a regular Airbus pilot—or so it seemed.
Biologist Jemma Simmons, who, along with teammate Leo Fitz, made up the team's science division.
And finally, Skye, from the Inhumans, a group Peter had never heard of until now. Her real name was Daisy Johnson—and she probably didn't even know that yet.
The arrival of an Avenger was met with more cheers from the team members, but Coulson quickly stopped their celebration. "An alien symbiote has infiltrated the Triskelion, and Director Fury is very, very angry. We need to solve this problem with Spider-Man's help. Simmons, you're in charge of studying the symbiote. Work with Fitz to see if you can develop a way to detect them. Skye, you'll monitor the network and search for any information on the symbiote."
Coulson then saw the bewildered looks on his subordinates' faces. Skye was the first to voice her confusion. "Sorry, but what exactly is a symbiote?"
"Oh, hold on. I'll let it out for a bit." Peter motioned for Coulson and Cindy to stand back, then let Venom take over, transforming into a Hulk-sized biomass monster. Venom grinned, said "Hello" to the startled agents, and explained, "An alien creature that looks like me. Oh, and they usually eat brains."
"???"
Then they watched as the giant symbiote shrunk back into the normal-sized Spider-Man.
"Sorry, um, it's not very good at talking. They're a gelatinous alien species that can co-exist with a host and are very powerful. Their only energy source is phenethylamine, so the symbiotes will hunt for human brains. Just keep an eye out for any reports of headless bodies."
"Phenethylamine?" Simmons expressed her confusion. "Then why don't they just eat chocolate?"
"Because... they're the bad guys, and Venom is the good guy?" Peter said, using his webbing to hook a test tube and hold it in his hand. He then allowed a part of Venom to emerge, letting Simmons cut it off with surgical scissors and hand it to her. "In any case, these things are very dangerous, so be careful."
"Okay..." Skye raised an eyebrow after watching Simmons take the test tube away. "I'll go sit at my computer now..."
"Sir?" Ward looked at Coulson, curious about what he should do now that everyone else was busy. "What should I do?"
"If you have time, teach the two Spider-Men some combat techniques."
Meanwhile, after falling into the sewer, Whiplash was hit again by one of Spider-Man's sonic arrows. Losing his ability to move, he was carried by the sewer water into a river, where he found and possessed a fish, beginning to move quickly.
He was looking for a way back, but having lost a high-intelligence host, and with the memory of the fish affecting him, Whiplash's own mind became unstable, and his memories became distorted. Following a familiar scent in his memory, he arrived near a human settlement. He then left the fish and slowly crawled onto the shore. The small green clump of symbiote entered the sewer system again and silently began searching for its brethren.
I need a powerful host, a being who can stand on par with Venom's host. Otherwise, I will never be able to defeat that damn traitor.
At this very moment, Adrian Toomes arrived at the A.I.M. headquarters in Washington. He was given a tour of A.I.M.'s core facility by Killian, the president and creative director.
"Not only do we create powerful robots like the Super-Adaptoid, but we also contract with the military to restore the Super-Soldier Serum. Honestly, almost every military corporation is researching it."
Adrian asked with a hint of curiosity, "Everyone has ideas about it?"
"No, but everyone can get a lot of research funding from it."
Adrian nodded, and then followed Killian to the Super-Adaptoid maintenance facility. The robot, which had been painted blue and was adorned with what looked like an American flag, was made of a special liquid metal. The maintenance process was very complicated, and Adrian could only understand a portion of it. He watched for a while from the window before leaving.
After a day of observation, he was basically certain that A.I.M. was a large and financially strong company with the approval of the U.S. military. What was more important was that they were willing to fund his previous project in New York—or, more specifically, the anti-gravity device in his bionic wings.
There was only one small problem.
"I, I already signed an agreement with Oscorp regarding the patent for the anti-gravity system."
"Oh, that's not a problem. We've looked into the patent issue. The agreement with Oscorp only states that both parties acknowledge that there is no plagiarism between their respective anti-gravity technologies; they are two different systems. It does not conflict with you re-developing and upgrading your own system based on your equipment." Killian smiled. "Are you satisfied with our company now, Mr. Toomes?"
"Oh, yes, thank you. I'm very satisfied." Adrian rubbed his bald head. "Can we... can we sign the contract now?"
"Of course, Mr. Toomes."
After signing the contract with A.I.M., Adrian took a deep breath. He looked at the unfamiliar sights of Washington, feeling that it was all a bit surreal. Now the most important thing was to buy a plane ticket and go home to tell Liz the good news. In his excitement, he didn't notice the manhole cover beneath his feet, tripped over it, and nearly fell to the ground.
Adrian quickly shook his head, picked up his bag, and prepared to call a taxi to the airport, completely unaware that a small puddle of green, viscous goo had latched onto the heel of his shoe.