The temporary S.H.I.E.L.D. safe house was in the docklands on the west bank of the Hudson River. For some reason, these chaotic organizations are always drawn to docks; they love causing trouble there. Docks seem isolated and secure but actually have a surprisingly high volume of traffic.
"Hello? Is this the New York Fire Department? Please do not extinguish the large fire on the west bank of the docks. There are dangerous alien organisms inside. Please stand by on the perimeter and be ready to receive casualties."
"NYPD? Please quickly seal off the west dock area between 71st and 78th streets. There are dangerous alien organisms inside."
After quickly contacting the necessary agencies, Peter swung on a web and arrived near the port. The entire area was a sea of fire. This environment was not suitable for symbiotes, and combined with what Coulson had said about Riot's traits, Peter took a deep breath. He realized he was in for a tough fight, and he might have to rely on himself without the Venom symbiote.
He activated his suit's sonar system. In this high-temperature environment, infrared vision was useless. Fortunately, he had prepared the sonar device when dealing with Mysterio. It could quickly create a clear image to check for survivors. He first located a port warehouse where people were trapped. Peter immediately went over, used his webbing to toss away the burning cargo blocking the door, and then pried open the red-hot entrance.
"Thank you, Spider-Man!" the trapped dockworkers said as they scrambled out. One of them added, "You're better in that suit. Less scary."
[Am I scary?]
"Maybe they just have a prejudice against black... Oh, wait."
The sonar system showed a symbiote moving in the distance. Peter immediately rushed over and saw the symbiote Whiplash corralling people who were running from the flames. He extended whips from his back, yanked them toward him, and then, one by one, he ripped off two of their heads.
He dropped the two headless bodies and was about to enjoy his third meal when Spider-Man landed on him. With both hands, he unleashed a powerful blast of pure white electricity that instantly caused the whips to disintegrate. The people dropped from mid-air and fled in terror.
"Ah, Spider-Man, my old rival," Whiplash said with a smile. He extended whips from his back, turning the two headless bodies into puppets. "Good, I'm starving. Since you stole my dinner, you can pay the price."
"The Earth isn't your restaurant, and you'd better take humans off your menu," Peter said, dodging attacks from Whiplash's puppets. He then lunged forward and punched Whiplash in the body with a powerful electrical charge that lit up the night sky. The intense heat made Whiplash howl in pain. He thrashed his whips wildly at Peter, but the black suit took advantage of the brief respite from the heat to cover Peter's body. He moved with flawless agility, performing various high-difficulty maneuvers in the air, dodging the whipping tendrils and maneuvering directly above Whiplash.
Peter used his webbing to grab a burning wooden plank from a nearby fire, held it in his hand, and slammed it into Whiplash's body. Whiplash shrieked in agony, using all his strength to fling the two puppets and Peter off his back. He then plunged into the sea. Just as Peter looked at the water's surface, a purple biomass blade shot out from the depths. It was followed by a voluptuous but incredibly dangerous-looking female symbiote. She landed in front of Peter, giving Whiplash time to escape.
"Hello, Spider-Man. Nice to meet you. You can call me Extreme."
"Sorry, but I don't like extreme women."
Holding the burning wooden plank, Peter coolly twirled it around before charging forward, intending to use the high temperature from the flames to his advantage. However, Extreme clearly understood Peter's tactic. She turned her hands into two long swords and sliced off both burning ends of the plank before lunging at Peter.
"Can't you change your weapon or something?"
[I don't think so... Oh, wait.]
Whether it was an idea inspired by Lady Deathstrike from Peter's memories or the symbiote reaching its limit, the Venom symbiote extended Peter's fingers into long claws. Peter actually used his new, slender fingers to grab Extreme's blades and then kicked her away.
The main reason was that Peter didn't want to kill her. Without a true bond with its host, the symbiote couldn't protect the human inside. For the host inside Extreme, the symbiote was just like a suit she was wearing; it couldn't guarantee her safety.
Fortunately, Peter still had other ways to deal with symbiotes.
While Extreme was reeling from the kick, Peter swiftly charged toward her, using his Spider-Sense to dodge several of her acid attacks. Extreme quickly got back up and shrieked, swinging the blades in her hands.
But Spider-Man vanished. He wasn't just hiding in the dark; he had completely disappeared.
Extreme began swinging her blades, one after another, but suddenly, something was slapped onto her forehead. A ball of webbing with a small, portable sonic emitter attached was stuck to her head.
Instantly, a violent sound wave began to pierce Extreme's entire body. She screamed in agony as she began to separate from her host, Simmons. Spider-Man, who had been in mid-air, shot out webs from his wrists, hooked Simmons, and pulled her from the symbiote's grasp. He then leaped, crossing dozens of feet of flaming wreckage, and landed directly on the street sealed off by the NYPD, carrying Simmons to an ambulance.
"Spider-Man, what's the situation? Are there any more survivors in there?" Captain Stacy asked as he came over to direct the scene.
"From what the sonar shows, there aren't any." Peter sighed as he looked at the captain. "I didn't make it in time to save everyone."
"You did a great job." Captain Stacy comforted Spider-Man. Another explosion rocked the port area. He looked at the docks and asked Spider-Man, "The innocents are out, but the bad guys are still in there, right?"
"Yeah, I've gotta go take care of them."
Spider-Man leaped back into the fight. This time, the symbiote that appeared was not as strange. Devour was short and stocky, using his disproportionately large fists to smash the dock's pavement.
He turned and looked at Spider-Man, who had just landed in front of him.