— "Shit... Fuck, you've got to be kidding me! WHAT THE HELL IS THAT THING?!"
From the helicopter, the mercenaries watched in horror as the creature clung to the underside of the plane and slowly crawled its way to the top. Seeing this, Silver Sable clenched her teeth, her expression hardening immediately.
— "B-Boss! WHAT DO WE DO?! HOW DO WE KILL THAT THING?!"
— "...I don't know."
She paused briefly before continuing, as though every word cost her something and she was forcing herself to accept a terrible reality.
— "I don't think... we can kill that monster..."
The mercenaries inside the helicopter exchanged uncertain glances. They had never seen their leader like this before. Both physically and mentally, she seemed like a completely different person.
The woman who had always embodied strength, composure, and confidence now looked tiny in front of that creature. It was as if a tigress that had always ruled the jungle had suddenly found herself standing before an unstoppable gorilla.
They weren't fools, however. Even without hearing Silver Sable's words, they had already realized one thing: their weapons would never be enough to defeat such an abomination.
Slowly coming to terms with their situation, one of them swallowed hard before asking in a far less confident voice:
— "Then... what do we do?"
Meanwhile, the symbiote ripped open part of the plane's roof using nothing but the strength of its enormous claws, creating an opening into the aircraft. But the instant it did, several mercenaries immediately opened fire without stopping, forcing it back beneath the relentless barrage of bullets.
Annoyed, the monster let out a roar even longer and more terrifying than the previous ones, so powerful that several of Silver Sable's men visibly trembled.
At the same moment, one of the mercenaries on board received a radio call from the helicopter. He answered immediately, speaking in a panic.
— "Guys, that thing's on the plane! WHAT DO WE DO?!"
For several seconds, no one answered him. The silence finally pushed him to speak again.
— "Hello?! CAN YOU HEAR ME?!"
— "...I'm sorry. Your family will receive compensation." Silver Sable said in a quiet voice.
Hearing that response, the mercenary frowned, unable to understand what she meant. Behind him, the creature continued roaring while gunfire still echoed through the cabin. Convinced he had misheard her, he immediately spoke again.
— "B-Boss?! I didn't catch that! Could you repeat—"
He never got the chance to finish his sentence.
A missile fired from the rocket launcher mounted on the helicopter slammed directly into the plane. The explosion instantly engulfed the entire aircraft in flames, swallowing both the mercenaries and the symbiote in a massive inferno.
The force of the blast nearly sent the creature plummeting into the void, but it managed to keep its grip, refusing to give up before it and its host had finished what they had started.
It let out a scream of agony before, in one final surge of rage, pushing off the burning wreckage, leaping as high as it could, and firing a strand of black webbing that latched onto the underside of the helicopter, while the plane—now completely consumed by flames—plunged toward the waters of the ocean below.
Inside the helicopter, Silver Sable had closed her eyes. The weight of her decision had finally crashed down upon her. She had just condemned several members of her own team to death, and despite all her professionalism, guilt was beginning to consume her.
But a panicked voice brutally pulled her from her thoughts.
— "IT'S STILL ALIVE! GODDAMN IT!"
— "What?! How is that possible?!"
One of the mercenaries stepped toward the helicopter's open door to see what was happening outside. But before he could make out anything at all, a strand of black webbing suddenly shot forward, wrapped itself around him, and yanked him out of the aircraft.
An enormous set of jaws was already waiting.
The symbiote bit his head clean off in a single snap of its fangs before spitting the rest of his body into the void like nothing more than a piece of trash. Moments later, the corpse crashed into the ocean at a terrifying speed.
— "WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE AT THIS RATE!"
— "TURN BACK TOWARD THE CITY! NOW!" Silver Sable ordered.
New York — Night
At their leader's command, the pilot obeyed immediately, banking the helicopter at full speed toward Manhattan. Meanwhile, another mercenary tried to drive the creature back by opening fire repeatedly.
But each time, the monster simply slipped beneath the aircraft, using the fuselage as cover and rendering every shot completely useless.
As the helicopter drew closer to Manhattan, people on the ground could now see it racing across the night sky. At the same time, the symbiote continued letting out endless roars that tore through the darkness.
Some civilians instinctively looked up, convinced they had heard something unusual, while others chose to believe it was nothing more than their imagination.
Suddenly, the creature drove its enormous claws into the fuselage and slowly began ripping open the underside of the helicopter. Little by little, an opening appeared, until its monstrous face finally emerged.
Without wasting a second, Silver Sable grabbed the shotgun mounted beside her seat. Despite the exhaustion and injuries slowing her down, she carefully took aim and fired directly into its head.
For a brief instant, the symbiote's face was literally blown apart.
Then, before the horrified eyes of the mercenaries, the black flesh regenerated at an absolutely terrifying speed, completely reforming its face as though nothing had happened.
The creature then burst into frenzied laughter.
As if it found the entire situation amusing.
— "WE'RE GOING TO CRASH! HOLD ON!"
New York — Central Park — Night
After what felt like the longest minute of their lives, the helicopter finally crashed into the heart of Central Park, more precisely into the large lake known as The Lake.
The impact was devastating. The force of the crash hurled the creature dozens of meters into the waters of the lake.
Then everything went black.
There was no way of knowing how much time had passed. A few seconds... a few minutes... perhaps even several hours.
Silver Sable finally regained consciousness when she was violently awakened by the last two mercenaries still alive. There were now only three of them left, including her.
After a long struggle, they managed to climb out of the helicopter, which continued to slowly sink to the bottom of the lake. All three swam toward the shore as fast as they could.
Then, without making the slightest sound... one of them suddenly disappeared beneath the surface. The two survivors instantly turned around. The moment they realized their companion had vanished without leaving the slightest trace, panic immediately began to consume them.
— "Where did he go?! Fuck, where did he go?!"
As the two of them frantically searched the water around them, desperately looking for their missing companion, the last remaining mercenary was, in turn, violently dragged beneath the surface. In the blink of an eye, something pulled him into the depths of the lake before he disappeared completely.
The moment she finally understood what was happening, fear completely overwhelmed Silver Sable. Terrified, she began swimming as fast as she possibly could, silently praying that the creature wouldn't grab her legs and drag her beneath the surface as well.
She kept swimming without ever stopping. Her breathing grew heavier and heavier, every muscle in her body burned with pain, and the blood flowing from her wounds slowly mixed with the lake water. Yet despite the pain, despite the exhaustion, and despite the terror crushing her heart, she refused to slow down.
When she finally reached the shore, she nearly collapsed onto solid ground before struggling to catch her breath. Lying on the ground, she breathed heavily while instinctively continuing to crawl backward, as though she still feared something might emerge behind her.
Her eyes nervously scanned the surroundings. There was no one. No civilians. No police officers. Nothing. At last, she slowly turned her gaze toward The Lake. The surface of the water was perfectly still, drawing a deep sigh of relief from her. For a brief moment, she even dared to believe that perhaps... that thing had drowned.
With great difficulty, Silver Sable managed to get back to her feet and began walking away from the lake with hesitant steps. Her only goal now was to put as much distance as possible between herself and that place. She would figure out what to do next later.
Unfortunately, it was already too late. The instant she started walking, a gigantic black figure suddenly burst from the water, exactly like a crocodile lunging at its prey. Silver Sable slowly turned around, frozen with terror. At first, the creature crawled across the ground with animalistic movements. Then it slowly rose until it adopted an almost human posture.
For several long seconds that felt like an eternity, neither of them moved. The monster breathed heavily, its enormous jaws hanging slightly open to reveal a disturbing grin that reflected all the satisfaction it felt after the hunt... and above all, after finally catching its prey.
Standing before it, Silver Sable did everything she could to remain on her feet despite the fear that constantly screamed at her to collapse to her knees. Against all expectations, a faint smile appeared on her face. It wasn't a smile of defiance or a smile of confidence, but simply a smile of despair.
She knew she had absolutely no chance of surviving. But beg? Never. She had never done that in her entire life, and today certainly wouldn't be the day she started.
Where most people would have cried, pleaded, or completely given up hope, Silver Sable did the exact opposite. Despite the wounds that continued to bleed, despite the exhaustion weighing down every movement, and despite the terror now plainly visible on her face, she slowly raised her fists once more and took up a fighting stance. She would not break.
Seeing that, the symbiote remained strangely calm. Without rushing, it walked toward her before slowly lowering its enormous face until only a few inches separated their eyes.
Silver Sable could feel its hot, heavy breath washing over her face, while the stench coming from the creature nearly made her stomach turn. The moment their eyes met, she finally broke. She had held on until now, but staring into the eyes of that creature from such close range, looking directly at its monstrous face, was more than she could bear.
Her legs finally gave out, and she slowly dropped to her knees, her head hanging toward the ground, unable to look at that thing for even one more second.
At that moment, a memory suddenly resurfaced in her mind: Wilson Fisk's letter, the offer he had made her... and everything that had followed. A deep sense of regret washed over her face.
— "If only... if only I hadn't accepted this damn mission..."
The symbiote slowly widened its grin before, without the slightest hesitation, swallowing her whole in a single bite.
TO BE CONTINUED.