Washing Down the Docks (Completed)

[Frank Castle]

Drug Shipment interception

You will need:

~ One M4A carbine with underslung grip, red dot sight plus six spare clips of ammunition

~ One MA1911 colt forty five pistol, plus four additional clips

~ Two Frag grenades or nearest equivilent

~ Two flash bangs

~ One pound of semtex ( Or nearest equivilent) plus detonater and blasting caps.

~ One Tear gas grenade plus gas mask

~ One Marine Corp Standard issue triangular pattern Ka-bar knife

~ One pair of high powered, varible zoom binoculars.

~Kevlar ( XXXL size)


Last week little Paulie Devico gets put in Rykers by a mask. Saved his life for now. Only problem was Little Paulie controlled half of the drugs that go into Little Italy and Midtown. The families sent a stand in to organise a new shipment. I found him and shot holes in his legs untill he sang like a bird. Apparently a new drug hit the market, highly addictive. X-Juice. Turns an average human being into a superman for a few hours. Highly resistant to pain, enhanced strength, highly addictive. That's the last thing this city needs. Some jerk playing God with the scum. The newest shipments coming in tonight along with the liasion for whoever providing the stuff. I'm gonna shut the operation down, send the crap to the bottom of the harbour and find someone who's in a talking mood.


The docs were rather common in appearance. Constructions of dull grey concrete with steel railings and spaces to allow smaller ships to dock. The sea washing up against the ships hull was ambient and Frank pushed it to the back of his mind. From his hiding spot amoung a stack of crates Frank watched the men patrol around the boat through his high powered binoculars. He scanned the patrolling goons, his mind running over the details rapidly.

Same ghetto trash the family associates with these days. Young italian men with things to prove, white kids with dillusions of power. Probably packin' glocks and Uzi's.

He ducked as the search light on the ship panned ast, checking his flanks before he popped his head back up for another look. On the ship itself were two large men wearing casual clothes, though each wore a similer beret with an emblem. Probably some sort of private security company. They were chatting away, none of the lower ranking goons met their gaze.

Mmm... There's the trouble. Ex Military. I know Spetnaz when I see them. Probably Russians, Or Molodavians. Same type of men that have wandered down from this mountians for hundreds of years. The kind of men who play football with the severed heads of children and drug hapless soldiers, strap them with explosives and send them back home to their wives. The bad lands of Russia have always given the world it's toughest fighting men. The things I'd need to do... to break one of those men...would need to be extreme

As he was watching them both men snapped to attention, shouldering their AK 74U's and saluting. A man in a white suit, his face thin and hawkish, his hair the color of iron spoke to them, obviously giving instructions. He had the same complextion and mannerisims as the ex-military guns for hire.

Looks like the guy to talk too. Calm, Confident, Obviously in command and everyone knows it. The Mob seem uneasy around him. He's the one to watch out for.

A large, black limo pulled up and some italian American men in sharp suits got out, grim looking, hardy and broad chaps who looked like they had seen every shady side this city had to offer.

Almost time to get started, Don't want to rush in though. More might be on the way. I'll see who turns up first...

Frank pulled back the slide on his M4, snapping a round into the chamber and waited.

[MacDonald "Mac" Gargan]

Drugs weren't really Gargan's thing, but these were different...these drugs supposedly enhanced a human's abilities; made em tougher, faster, stronger...if only for a short while. True, Mac, with his new and improved body, wasn't really needing any enhancing drugs, but what if he could accelerate his body past the boundaries he had already broken? What if he could become STRONGER? Surely, more strength, more speed, more anything could help him take down the web slinger.

So, as he trailed the sleek, black limo, emanating the wall crawler a bit as he leapt from rooftop to rooftop, occasionally extending his tail from its 4' length to its 20' to hook a passing railing or whatnot, Mac savored the thought of a greater strength than what he knew. He'd tossed compact cars around like stuffed animals and had even had the opportunity to use a Cadillac Escalade as a projectile with a bit of exertion.

Nearly salivating at the mouth, Mac almost flung himself off into empty space as the jungle of buildings abrubtly ended; opening to a dark expanse of water and the docks.

Typical drug dealers, they hadn't told him a thing, merely promised a sum of money and told him to meet them at location A and follow the damn limo to location B. He was muscle, the meathead no doubt. At least that's what they thought...

See, guys like him, the meat, the muscle, they didn't need to know about the shipments; what was in them, who it was going to. It was all irrelevant and, frankly, was a liability. Still, they hadn't counted on their "meat" to be a trained PI. Snooping as well as always, Mac had stumbled on the name of this "X-Juice" and its more curious properties and startling effect.

Mac had never been one for the math or sciences and how the drug worked was well beyond his grasp, but he did understand that if he took it he could be stronger, faster, better; that's exactly what he wanted.

Trained eyes watched as a fine, Italian suited leg stepped out of the limo, followed by a tall figure carrying a black suitcase. So, this was his enigmatic employer, eh? Carrying every intention of stealing every last bit of X-Juice he could get his pincers on, Mac allowed himself a small, evil smirk. There was something immensely amusing that he was intent on doing the exact opposite of what the man had paid him to do.

[Kenji Kato]

Kenji had overheard some kids bragging about scoring some "X-Juice" A drug that made you strong, fast and immune to pain for a couple of hours. Unfortunately Venom had heard them too. Which was why the ultimate odd couple were walking through the docks to try and find the shipment and "Save" the city of New York from falling further into a cesspit of disgrace and evil.
"Bingo ..." Venom smirked, eyeing the ship. He stayed in the shadows for a good thirty seconds before deciding that he couldn't get a good view and climbing to the top of a nearby building and crawling to the end of it.

He wasn't alone, also on the roof was a man with an M4. Venom sniggered and quietly slunk next to him.
"Venom! Don't!" Kenji cried, his voice muffled by the symbiote that had taken over his body.
Venom ignored his host and tapped the man on the shoulder.
"'Sup?" He asked with a small wave and a huge toothy grin.

[Frank Castle]

Naturally the mafia's rather odd looking hired goon drew more than a few looks. Even the hardy spetnaz bodyguards seemed to shift uncomfortbly. These men, renowed for their fighting prowess and stoic ability to ignore fear, men who in training killed one and other with bricks and crawled through pools of blood and pieces of their less capable comrades felt a tinge of fear. To most men it would have been invsible but to the observant they may as well have been quivering. Frank had been around fighting men all his days and he knew the subtle hints they gave, he saw fear in those cold, dark eyes. The mafia weren't much better but the freak was on their side ( Or supposed to be at least) and that boosted their courage. Frank focused his binoculars on the juggernaught of a man.

This could be trouble... Heard the family might be bringing in big muscle tonight but I never expected this freak. Someone's done a job on him alright. This chump looks like he solo's Challanger II tanks for fun. I done have the firepower to take out this scumbag. Shoulda' brought a bigger gun.

Scanning the docks with his binoculars his attention was drawn to a cigerette being lit up by a man wearing gear similer to the Russians. He seemed to have crept off for a quiet smoke, unlike the other two who wore berets this boozo was wearing a balaclava.

The freak in the gimp suit changes things. Can't go loud, can't let this go either. Too big an oppertunity to pass up. Ivan over there might be able to help me. Drop him quiet, steal his uniform. Get on the boat, put that semtex to good use and send the poison these creeps are hauling in to the bottom of the bay.

Casually Frank slung the rifle over his shoulder, the strap keeping it from falling away. Just as he rose somthing tapped his shoulder. His eyes instantly narrowed.

Somebodies got the drop on me

Frank did several things in rapid succession. First he wheeled and at the same time dropped to his back, at that very same moment he drew his colt. Frank's holster was a custom fit based on the Makarov holster so instead of lifting to draw his pistol he pushed down, tearing it free. The holster's special catches chambered a round andclicked off the saftey for him without a moments interuption. An ingenius design from Russia that never saw mass production, why Frank could never tell. Still to the point at hand. He dropped to his back, his pistol leveled in the face of the ugly monstrosity that had crept up on him. While Frank's movements were smooth and surprprisingly quick to the heightened reflexes of Venom it must have appeared as if he was going in slow motion.

[MacDonald "Mac" Gargan]

One skill you picked up as a PI; being observant. You learned to read people, you learned to notice small things, seemingly insignificant things. Of course, you could just end up being a paranoid whack job that interpreted the most ridiculous things to arrive at your theories, but Gargan prided himself as being above that; far above that.

So, it wasn't a surprise that his improved eyesight caught the familiar flash of moonlight off of steel from the top of a roof; either a gun barrel or a camera, neither would be good news.

Breaking off from his tail on the suits, he approached the building cautiously, staring hard at the lip of the roof top in case he saw whatever it was again. Hmph, never hurt to be sure about things, did it?

Powerful, capable arms heaved the 220 pound framed man up to the top in a matter of few seconds and his booted feet hit the ground with audible noise, his eyes narrowed as they scanned the rooftop, instantly finding the source of the flash.

A shiny pistol of sorts was trained on some black ugly; Gargan had never been a big fan of guns, sure he had his six-shooter tucked away in his jacket at times, but he never had actually fired the thing. Nowadays, what with his improved body and kevlar suit, he hadn't touched the cold steel of it in ages.

A bit...surprised, Mac paused, his feet shifting slightly into a half wrestlers crouch; hell, who needed X-juice when you could have a half-decent tussle with two strangers on a rooftop? As much as he'd like to just hurl himself into a full body tackle that encompassed both of his newly acquired companions, Gargan felt it prudent to allow the unsuited man a chance to fill his opponent's ugly head with lead. Hell, it might even improve his looks.

OOC: I'll be gone until...Sunday. If you two want to post with more frequency while i'm gone, feel free to do so. I trust both of you to not kill/maim my charrie, but feel free to like... toss him off the rooftop, send him smashing through the roof... anything to give him a slight excuse to exit while you to continue a bit, but not too harsh that I can't have him crawl back up and get back in on things.

[Kenji Kato]

The man moved quickly, rolling over, pulling a gun out and aiming it at Venom's head. Venom grinned at the man and took a few steps forward, the gun wouldn't do much good against him, just get absorbed into the symbiote and panic Kenji.

The hulking monster raised a hand out towards the man's unarmed face and stopped when he heard a loud "BANG" on the metal roof. Venom lowered his hand to his side and turned to face his opponent.
"... Gargan?" Kenji thought.

It was that weird detective from before, only this time Venom and Kenji had a better look at him. He was wearing some sort of green Kevlar suit and because it seemed to be moulded to his frame looked a bit more beefy. The oddest thing was the tail, a huge cybernetic tail jutted out of the Scorpion's back. Kenji was amazed, how had he kept that hidden.

While Kenji had been looking over the newcomer Venom had extended a gooey black tentacle all the way across the rooftop. It was at that point he chose to coil it round his leg and then throw him off the building to the ground below. Venom drew the limb back into his body and then looked back at the man before him.
"Hi! We're Venom, who are you?"

[Frank Castle]

This can't be good

Frank eased back the hammer with his thumb, it would take perhaps a 6th of a second for the round to leave the barrel and not too many things on the face of the earth were faster than that. Unfortunatly right at that moment Frank couldn't pull the trigger. After all he wasn't sure if Venom/Kenji was one of the bad guys or not.

So much for a simple drug bust. Could have some real trouble on my hands if this bozo's backin' up the other one.

The huge fella with the cybernetic tail joined them on the roof with a huge thud that partially cracked the roof. Th black thing turned to face him and Frank saw his oppertunity, Moving smoothly to his feet he holstered the forty five and gathered up his rifle.

Okay... This could be bad.

With the disicpline of a military veteran Frank backed away, weapon trained on the super-human as he eased back towards the fire escape. He was aware that the unloading belowh ad been stopped as the criminals below fixed their attentions on the pair of superhuman giants, most of them partially hoping for some sort of scrap between the two.

A guy in a full kevlar body suit that looks thicker than a tank hull. I've been snuck up on by... by somthing not easily put into words and It's them or a one sided fire fight.

He heard somthing crash down with such a thud it sent vibrations up the building that he could feel through his thick boots. He also over the noise vaugly heard somthing introduce itself but Frank ignored it. The black metahuman was too much of a wild card. Right now what Frank needed was to calm the situation down, bring it to somthing he knew inside and out. Vaulting the roof he landed on the fire escape and made his way down the steel steps, occasionally glancing upwards to see if Venom was following.

The Russian in the suit sprinted to the helm of the ship, a makarov pistol in his hands. His large mustache quivered as he shouted an order, first in Russian then in broken English. " Kill those motherlovers!" He roared, firing his pistol into the air as if to try and enforce his will through the loud bang of the weapon. Frank lept from the lowest platform and hit the ground hard. A strained pain in his thighs from taking the brunt of the impact without enough room to roll formed but he grimly ignored it. The Russian who had been smoking earlier and come under Frank's scrutiny was closer than his comrades. He stpped out from behind a forklift His initial burst of AK fire wildly inaccurate as he screamed in Russian. Frank double-tapped two into his chest without breaking pace. The shots struck the soldier in the centre mass and folded him. putting hi s back to a large steel shipping container Frank waited a few seconds as all hell broke loose.

The low level goons from the mafia didn't have the discipline of their Russian allies and let loose everything they had. Uzi's, pistols and shotguns all firing wildly at his position. He could hear them pinging off the outer wall of the container.

That's right boys... Freak out... Spray.

A lull in the canopy of noise signalled a mass reloading and Frank stepped out of cover, his m4 firing disciplined bursts as he moved forward.

Don't aim...Whatever you do.

Advancing rapidly Castle put three rounds in a hoodie wearing thug and slid into cover behind a black sedan. using his rifle butt to smash out the window on his end he sat out the second rain of fire, changing his clip as he did.

These goons break and run in the first thirty seconds of a fire fight. Not the guys on the boat. No.... Victors of God only knows how many fire fights. They didn't panic, they took cover, found their target and fired back. A familer dance of suppressive fire and flank began. Probably should have waited before I took on this many punks.

Rushed footstep to the side of Sedan snapped Frank into action and he surged upright just as a thug came into view, his uzi aimed right in Frank's face. Using the barrel of the rifle Frank smacked his arm aside and drove the hot barrel into the goons stomach, he doubled over as the air was forced from his lungs. Grabbing him by the back of his tracksuit jacket Frank wheeled him around, using him like a human shield while he used the hood of the car to steady his aim and fire back, the hapless goon was screaming over the firefight " Don't shoot at me! For the Love of God don't fire back!"

That temporary sanctuary gave Frank enough time to check the roof he had started out on to see what had become of the black suited monster.

[Kenji Kato]

Venom looked back to face the man who'd pulled a gun on him. He was gone. Venom looked around frantically and started sniffing the air.
"Where's he gone!?" He cried, if he'd got away and warned the others then they'd be in trouble.

Venom looked down at the scene below expecting to see the man warning the Russian soldiers or the Italian gangsters. Instead he saw a burst of gunfire from the shadows before a firefight broke out. He looked down astonished and then grinned.
"See that Kenji?" He asked "He's on our side!"
"Lovely," Kenji replied dejectedly "There are two mass-murderers running around New York, whoop-de-doo,"

Venom sat on the side of the roof gently swaying his legs as the skull suited man dispensed justice upon the criminals. At the moment he was using one of the thugs as a human shield, the unfortunate Italian was close to tears as he begged his associates not to fire. There was a slight drop in gunfire and then one of the Italians (a young one in a business suit and converse) raised his gun and shrugged.
"Sorry Donny, just business," He insisted.

Venom leapt off the roof the moment the Italian mobster raised his handgun. That meant that when he pulled the trigger it didn't go through the Punisher's skull as he intended it to it instead bounced off Venom's chest as he smashed down onto the bonnet of the car and roared at them.

"... Oh sh-"
The man's curse was cut short by a massive behemoth leaping off the car (leaving a huge indent) and grabbing him by the throat, snapping his neck as he used him as a weapon against the closest mobsters. Venom turned around and snarled at a cowering goon with slicked back hair and a service revolver. The frantic gunfire resumed once more and Venom started tearing into the mobsters.

[MacDonald "Mac" Gargan]

One moment your on top of the world, or more accurately on a building, and the next you're crashing down onto cement. His body had tensed accordingly as he felt the first slick surface of the tentacle's touch, but that had not been nearly enough to save the kevlar-covered man and he was thrown clear from the building; a mute roar of surprise escaping his lips.

Composing himself mid-air, he splayed out his limbs in all directions and landed much like a cat on the surface; thin starbursts appeared where his feet or hands impaced the ground.

As he stood, it was safe to say that the Russians and Italians were looking a bit confused; their minds trying to figure out two unsavory reasons why he'd come hurling out over the edge of the rooftop. Either...

A: He (Gargan) had decided to jump like a crazy person, which meant he was probably off his rocker and capable of anything.

B: Something...something BIG had tossed him off there.

Regardless, no doubt both possibilities were causing them to panic, but they had little time to let that set in as gunfire erupted, dropping a few of the thugs. Not unduly worried, knowing that his suit combined with his own bodily physiology would be able to shrug off the bullets like poorly thrown punches, Mac calmly watched as the scene sort of...played out.

Obviously a skilled shooter, it didn't take long for the vigilante to sort out a few of the villains and grab himself a meat shield. Surprise, surprise, the Italian didn't give a rat's behind about his companion and raised his pistol, without a doubt ready to sacrifice his own man to get rid of this troublemaker. Watching the bullet as it left the chamber, Gargan's keen eyes knew enough to realize that the bit of lead was heading right toward The Punisher's head regardless of his human shield...only to be stopped by a hulking black mass.

The freak who had threw him off the rooftop! Realizing the thing to be a formidable foe as he watched him launch himself off a vehicle and begin to use the mobster as a human club, Gargan still decided to, well, lower his shoulder and charge.

First off, the darn thing had thrown him off a building. Secondly, he reminded him oddly of a black Spider-Man and that was reason enough for Scorpion to want to slam his fist home into the creature's face.

Letting out a primal roar to announce his presence, Mac lowered his broad shoulders and started to pump his prodigiously powerful legs, accelerating him towards the black creature at a remarkable speed, probably reaching about 150 mph at the moment of possible impact. Gargan's plan was simple, tackle the thing, get control and then "ground n pound" until it stopped moving.

[Kenji Kato]

Kenji noticed the green figure first. He was about to warn Venom when Gargan rammed himself into the black behemoth and started pounding at him. Venom shot a hand up to try and grab one of Gargan's fists.

The monster growled and jutted his neck up snapping his teeth and lashing his tongue at Gargan. If he was able to catch Gargan in his jaws then the man would either get several stinging cuts or end up with acid smeared on his face. It wouldn't melt his eyeballs out but it would give him a very nasty rash.

After a bit Venom stopped biting twisted Gargan's arm at the wrist, screamed in fury and tried to roll over hoping to either get out from underneath the Private Investigator or roll on top of him and start punching him in the face.

[MacDonald "Mac" Gargan]

His shoulder crashing into the black monster, Gargan almost let out a cry of joy as he made contact, launching the enwrapped pair into a set of wooden boxes which were instantly transformed into a mass of splinters as it broke under their force. The air was suddenly filled with Scorpion's flying fists as he kept the thing pinned to the ground with his weight, mounting him; hard knuckles collided with equally durable skin and the being's screams and maddened attempts at retaliation were telling him that he was doing some damage.

A slippery hand wrapped momentarily about his wrist, threatening to stop him, but Scorpion's arm was too strong, his power too great and he simpled bulled through, sending that one particular punch rocketing into the monster's throat.

Drawing that same hand back, Gargan was caught off guard by a sudden engulfment of his face; resisting the urge to open his mouth and yell, his insides were spared the burn of acid and, naturally, Mac leapt off, snapping off a short salvo of punches to ensure that the black Spider-Man kept its blasted distance.

Wiping away the burning saliva with the sleeve of one costumed arm, Gargan contorted his cut up, irritated face into a mask of rage and, with another animalistic roar, sent his mechanical tail shooting out towards his opponent's midsection; intent on extending the thing enough so that it would bind around the creature's waist and hold him so that Gargan's fists could finish what they had started.

OOC: Venom wasn't able to catch Gargan's wrist because of the strength difference btw. Gargan = 15 tons lifting and Venom = 9.

[Kenji Kato]

[OOC: Okay, coolness]

Venom almost looked shocked when Gargan's hand ploughed through his attempt to stop it and hit him in the throat, hard. He spluttered a curse and then tried to protect himself from Gargan by randomly slashing at him with his claws.

When Gargan got himself up Venom rolled aside and got to his feet. A mechanical green tail shot out at him Gargan roaring at him. Venom roared as well and sprouted five jet black tentacles from his back which lashed outwards and wrapped around Gargan's own tail. Venom took a few steps backwards, he was really strong and forcing down on him. How long would he be able to hold him off?

[Frank Castle]

His meatshield didn't give him much cover and the coolness of the mafia goons was enough to make him think twice. The group was motivated beyond the levels usually seen in street level thugs. Frank saw the weapon come up in the suitedm ans hands and tried to pull his shield infront of him. The man wriggled in his arms and Frank felt him drop enough to give his buddy room for a headshot.

I don't have room to get out of this, no way I'll be able to drop that goon... Even if I go full auto I'll only get lucky hits. Heh...What the hell. Paid for my ticket, might as well enjoy the show.

A black form crashed down infront of Frank before the round could tear his heado pen and instead it bounced harmlessly like it had been fired at twelvei nches of steel. The near death encounter would have stunned most men into standing still, Frank instead returned fire, picking off a few goons who turned to flee from the black monsters pursuit. " Hah!...Hahaha! I'm alive! I'm alive!" Donnie yelped, running his hands over his face to make sure he wasn't dreaming. Frank grabbed his chin and jerked his head to the side, the brittle snap of his neck coming moments before he dropped dead, his eyes glazed over.

Ducking back into cover Frank ditched his M-4 and picked up a discarded pump action shotgun that one of the butchered goons had dropped. A severed hand still clung to the grip. Peeling it off Frank tossed it aside and checked the chamber. Slugs were loaded, unlike the usual scatter shot of a shotgun these were designed to punch a hole in hard targets. Looks like the mafia expected some tough resistance, It would make mince meat of his non-powered enemies but he doubted it would get through Scorpions heavy duty gear.

The primal roars of the grappling pair were so loud it made Frank's teeth hurt, surpressed he could do little but watch and wait for the storm to pass. The large green tank was getting the advantage over his lesser opponent and onstantly smashed his fists into it, shaking off the attempts at defence.

He's keeping the freak busy long enough for me to do what I gotta do... But the thing is... I owe 'em.

The pair were returned to standing and decided to grapple from afar with their enhanced bodies. Once more venom looked like he was losing this engagement. Without help he'd probably be pulverised pretty quickly. Frank darted from cover against his better judgement andfelt somthing punch the wind out of his lungs. He kept his legs moving and slid into cover behind a car near the pair of battling giants.

Round went through my kevlar, went deep enough to hurt like hell too but nothing worse. I doubt these slugs will get through the creeps gear, Need military grade stuff for that.. but maybe I can distract him long enough...

Shouldering hos shotgun Frank took aim and unloaded as many slugs from the shotgun as he could fire, blasting Scorpions back to little visible effect, the sound of each boom like distant thunder.

[MacDonald "Mac" Gargan]

The tail that should have collided with the black spidey's face, should have sent him head over heels, should have left him reeling was stopped by a mass of tentacles that seemed to just sprout out from his opponent's back...that was something new.

Determined not to lose in this testiment in strength, Scorpion tensed the muscles in his body and, via the neural connection in his tail, drove the thing forward with even greater force than before; nearly salavating at the mouth as he could feel his undeniable strength forcing the creature's own tentacles back, forcing his feeble defenses down. "You can't beat Scorpion, i'm too strong, too powerful!"

The tail surged forward another few inches, Venom's black tentacles bending in under the strain as they attempted to stop the bullish, brutish tail... he couldn't last much longer, he wouldn't.

Sensation exploded upon Gargan's back and his eyes widened with realization; someone was shooting at his back. Flinching out of habit more than anything, gunfire rang out through the night, but his superhuman composition coupled with his kevlar proved to be more than a match for the lead slugs and none penetrated, though they did do well to distract him.

Still an awkward fighter at best, Mac certainly lacked the concentration more skilled individuals owned and as the third or fourth slug hit, his focus began to crack and strain; mainly the focus that he was devoted to keeping his powerful, surging tail driving towards Venom. That concentration being shattered, the resistance that his opponent was pushing up against vanished almost instantly and all five tentacles, slipping free from the now limp tail, sprung forward and smashed into Scorpion's body; one in the face, two in the chest and the other two in the abdomen that sent him airborne.

Flying a full ten feet backwards, Gargan was no gymnast and, despite his improved reflexes and physical prowess, he still landed in an uneven, dishoveled heap. Once he managed to re-arrange his head and differentiate between up and down again, he'd get up, thrash that black behemoth and then find whomever shot him in the back and tear them limb from limb.

[Kenji Kato]

Venom started to get pushed to the floor, under visible strain he valiantly stayed standing. He screeched at the man before him, pushing harder.
"You can't beat Scorpion, i'm too strong, too powerful!" Gargan boasted.

"We'll se-" Venom staggered backwards and then actually did drop to one knee, supporting himself with his right hand "See about that ..."
Kenji was starting to freak out, he'd almost been killed by Gargan once and he did not want to be killed for real.

Venom winced in pain, this was getting hard to fight against. He opened his eyes when he heard the sound of a shotgun and saw Gargan flinch. A smile spread across his face and with renewed vigour he strained harder against the huge green tail. It only took a couple more shots for Gargan's concentration to break at which point Venom shot to his feet, the tentacles he'd wrapped around Gargan forcing him a good ten feet backwards and into a pile on the floor. Venom cackled with joy and shot off after "The Scorpion". He didn't know who'd opened fire but it had probably been the guy killing all the thugs. Venom ran at full pelt, the tentacles on his back swirling back into the hulking black mass and several more coming through his wrists, coiling around each other into two huge clubs and being held in Venom's hands.

The slavering monster jumped into the air and leapt at his foe intending to smash both clubs against his tangled body ...