Tombstone was the second enhanced individual Ethan had encountered in person, after Spider-Man. And with every brutal collision, Ethan could tell—Tombstone wasn't just tough. He possessed physical attributes several times greater than the average human.
Especially his skin—an eerie bluish-gray tone that felt nearly impervious to damage. It was like punching a block of granite covered in scar tissue.
Bang! Ethan blocked a heavy punch from Tombstone, the impact reverberating through his bones. Using the momentum, he flipped backward and landed several paces away to catch his breath.
He crossed his arms in front of his chest. A second later, his fingertips began to shift—elongating, hardening. The surface shimmered with a metallic sheen as the symbiote adapted to his thoughts, forming razor-sharp claws capable of cutting steel.
Tombstone's red eyes narrowed. He hadn't seen that before. When Ethan moved his hands, the slicing wind hissed like whiplash, and the sharp whine in the air made it clear—those claws were no joke.
"Let's see whose skin cracks first," Ethan growled, voice laced with venom and malice. Then he lunged forward like a shadow with blades.
Tombstone stepped in to counter, but the first swipe landed—a shallow cut across his ribs. It wasn't deep, but it left a white scratch on his rock-like hide. Ethan's claws had finally broken through.
Each attack after that came faster, more precise. Venom amplified Ethan's agility, allowing him to weave around Tombstone's bulk. White slashes stacked up on Tombstone's torso. With every swing, Ethan cut deeper—splitting flesh that even bullets would've bounced off.
Blood began to trickle from several of the wounds, staining Tombstone's shredded shirt.
"Tch… He got through?" the villain muttered under his breath, then suddenly tore off his shirt and flexed his stone-hard muscles. "Fine. Let's fight for real."
Cracking his neck and gritting his teeth, Tombstone locked eyes with Ethan, then raised a hand and made a "come on" gesture with one finger.
Ethan didn't hesitate. He growled, shook off the blood coating his claws, and charged again.
Tombstone was adapting. Some of Ethan's strikes were now deflected or parried, but not all. The battle left more and more cuts on Tombstone's chest, shoulders, and arms. The toughened hide was losing integrity.
Ethan could feel it—the momentum tipping in his favor.
He slashed faster now, and Tombstone struggled to keep up. He was getting overwhelmed.
Puff! With a brutal thrust, Ethan's right hand plunged deep into Tombstone's abdomen. The claws pierced skin and muscle, sinking halfway to his wrist.
Tombstone gasped, clutching Ethan's forearm tightly to stop him from driving the claws deeper. Blood poured from the wound, and his jaw clenched from the pain.
Ethan immediately raised his left hand, claws gleaming. He aimed for Tombstone's throat with lethal precision.
But Tombstone was faster this time—he released Ethan's right wrist and caught the incoming left hand. The claw stopped just inches from his neck.
The gamble paid off… partly.
By releasing Ethan's right wrist, he allowed the claws already embedded in his gut to plunge deeper. The pain shot through his body like fire. He gritted his teeth, veins bulging from his neck and forehead.
Holding Ethan's arms with a death grip, he roared, "You brainless wrecking ball! What the hell are you waiting for?!"
As the words rang out, the rubble behind them exploded outward.
Rhino burst from the pile like an unstoppable missile, roaring as he charged. "I'M COMING!!"
Before Ethan could react, Rhino slammed into him from behind and wrapped both arms around his torso in a monstrous bear hug.
Ethan's ribs cracked audibly under the crushing pressure. Rhino's strength was terrifying—his massive arms compressed Ethan's body like a hydraulic press. Tombstone quickly released Ethan and staggered back, his abdomen bleeding freely.
Venom screamed in Ethan's mind, furious and snarling, but also calculating.
Ethan's vision blurred from the pain, but his instincts took over. His symbiote-coated arms immediately pressed against Rhino's biceps, claws sinking just slightly into the brute's thick hide. He needed leverage—needed to prevent the squeeze from snapping his spine.
"Got you now, freak!" Rhino bellowed with a maniacal laugh.
His breath stank of cheap booze and sweat, and Ethan could feel the vibrations in his chest as Rhino squeezed tighter and tighter. Bones groaned. Pain spiked. But Ethan didn't scream.
Not this time.
His eyes beneath the mask were bloodshot, wide, and full of fury.
The pain didn't drown him—it sharpened him.
But at that moment, Ethan did the unexpected—he let go of Rhino's arms and went limp, allowing the full force of the crushing grip to land. Bones cracked. His ribs and spine fractured audibly under the pressure.
Rhino—Aleksei Sytsevich—felt Ethan's body go slack and instinctively loosened his grip. Confusion clouded his dull eyes. He had expected resistance… not surrender.
That split-second of hesitation cost him.
Ethan's body twisted like a serpent, fluid and unnatural, as he slithered upward—repositioning himself in a flash and planting himself on Rhino's thick shoulders.
The next moment, tendrils of black wriggled beneath his skin—Venom went to work. Bones snapped back into place. Crushed organs knit themselves together. Ethan's body regenerated at an unnatural pace, all while perched atop his enemy.
Rhino had barely started to raise his arms to grab him when Ethan struck.
With a snarl, Ethan drove both clawed fingers into Aleksei's eyes, puncturing them before the brute could react.
"ARRRGHH!!" Rhino bellowed in pain, staggering blindly, his massive fists swinging at the air as blood poured down his face.
He charged without direction, crashing through debris like a headless bull, smashing into a shattered wall and stumbling over the rubble. His enormous frame toppled like a collapsed tower.
Ethan fired a strand of webbing from his wrist. It latched onto Rhino's leg. With practiced efficiency, he launched another, then another, until the blinded giant was cocooned in thick layers of symbiote-web, rolling and thrashing like a trapped beast.
Only then did Ethan pause and glance around.
"Tombstone's gone," he muttered. It had barely been a minute or two since Rhino had grabbed him, but in that time, Lonnie Lincoln—aka Tombstone—had vanished without a trace.
"Venom," Ethan said, narrowing his eyes, "did you see where that albino bastard went?"
Venom hissed in frustration inside his head. "I was focused on the big ox. Didn't notice Grayface slipping away."
"Damn it," Ethan spat, scanning the rooftops in vain. "Coward runs fast, huh?"
With Tombstone gone, Ethan turned back to Rhino—the only lead left.
He approached the groaning brute, yanked him upright, and slammed him into the pavement. "Talk," he growled, his claws inches from Rhino's throat. "Who sent you after me?"
Aleksei stopped moaning. His mouth opened. But instead of answering, he shook his head slowly. "Can't tell you," he grunted.
Wrong answer.
Ethan drove a punch into Rhino's face, knocking loose a molar. "Let's try again: who ordered the hit?"
Rhino clenched his jaw, lips split and bleeding. "Won't talk."
His skin—like reinforced polymer armor—was nearly impossible to pierce. Ethan knew this from the brief scuffle earlier. His claws barely scratched it. But Rhino's mouth?
Still vulnerable.
Ethan grabbed his jaw, forced it open, and began prying out teeth—one by one.
The pain was excruciating, but Rhino never broke. The dull brute was either too stupid or too stubborn—or both. Maybe whatever buried instinct made him such a terrifying wall of muscle also made him loyal to whoever issued the order.
Minutes passed. Blood ran down Rhino's chin. His mouth was nearly empty now.
Still, no name.
Ethan stepped back, breathing hard. His mask's eye lenses narrowed. "Now I see why Tombstone called you an idiot," he said, voice low and dangerous. "You're strong… but damn, you're useless."
Sirens wailed in the distance. Red and blue lights danced faintly on the horizon. NYPD was closing in. He didn't have much time.
"Fine," Ethan muttered. "Let's see if the cops can ID you from dental records."
With one final motion, a tendril burst from Ethan's back, sharpened into a spear-like point—and pierced through Rhino's remaining eye, burrowing deep into his skull. The massive brute went stiff… then collapsed with a dull thud. Silent. Dead.
Ethan stood over the corpse for a moment, heart pounding, watching the blood pool around the shattered gravel.
Despite everything, he found himself impressed. How the hell did a man become this indestructible? Even now, Rhino's flesh was like armor. Without the weakness of the eyes, Ethan might not have survived.
"Ironclad tank with a peanut for a brain," he muttered, crouching down.
Quickly, he used a tendril to scrape blood and skin samples from the remains. If Rhino was a government experiment—or someone else's prototype weapon—Ethan wanted to know.
More importantly, Venom wanted to know.
The sirens were louder now. Red lights flashed between the alleyways.
Without another word, Ethan fired a strand of web to the nearest rooftop, and vanished into the shadows before the cops arrived.
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