Symbiotic Agent

"That's enough, old man! You have no idea what you're talking about, and you're just spouting nonsense!"

"Seeing you spew garbage on TV every day is bad enough. If you say one more word, I'll make sure you can't open that mouth for a month!"

Just as Holm was about to intervene and get James to leave, Spider-Woman, who'd been on the receiving end of James's rant, jumped in to respond. Her cutting remarks, just as fiery as James's, made Holm hold back what he was going to say.

"How dare you! I... I'll expose you on TV for who you really are! I'll call the NYPD and have them lock you up, you filthy criminal!" James stammered, stunned to be on the receiving end of Spider-Woman's sarcasm. How was it he'd never realized this "wall-crawler" could hold her own in a shouting match?

In fairness, he'd never actually confronted her directly. She had been a headline for him, not a face with a voice—and certainly not one so quick-witted and sharp.

"Are you really going to expose me on TV? I'm terrified!" Spider-Woman said mockingly. "You're going to call the NYPD? Oh no, am I going to end up in handcuffs? Cold handcuffs? I'm so scared! Whatever will I do?" She punctuated each phrase with mock horror, layering on the sarcasm.

Switching to a more serious tone, she pointed her finger in his face. "Listen up, old man! I don't care what you say about me on TV or who you call. If any of that mattered to me, you wouldn't even have the chance to stand here now!"

"Now, all you have to do is crawl out of here, through that tunnel. Go to the station, go to the cops—do whatever you want! Just don't let the Lizardmen or any other criminals catch you again. They won't have the patience I did, and they might make sure you never get the chance to speak again!"

"You... you..." James was at a loss for words, his face turning red as he lifted a trembling finger at Spider-Woman. But before he could respond, she grabbed him by the collar and unceremoniously shoved him into the exit passage.

When James was finally out of the tunnel, she gave him one last parting shot: "Hurry up, old man. You won't want to be around when the Lizardmen come back out." Holm thought he heard James muttering something under his breath as he left, but his footsteps quickly faded into the distance. For all his bluster, it seemed James was much better at talking than standing his ground.

Watching the exchange, Holm realized that this Spider-Woman was very different from the Spider-Man in the movies he remembered. There were various versions, sure, but they were all a bit awkward, friendly, and kind-hearted, even talkative.

This Spider-Woman, though also kind and driven to do good, wasn't the type to be pushed around. She'd taken James's taunts and fired right back, without hesitation. This version was a bit tougher and more direct, almost fierce—and definitely sharp-tongued.

Holm half expected that James's face might have stayed flushed out of sheer anger, or maybe from nearly bursting a blood vessel.

'Haha, I like her,' Holm thought. Venom, his alien symbiote, seemed just as impressed. "That old guy finally shut up. I was ready to crush him myself," Venom muttered approvingly. Holm felt that, as the symbiote couldn't express itself directly, Spider-Woman's outburst seemed to have satisfied them both.

With James gone, the space now felt different. It was just Holm and Spider-Woman, and he wasn't quite sure what to say. Their only previous interaction had been the last time they'd met when Holm bandaged her arm—finishing with a bow, to her apparent surprise.

Underneath her mask, Gwen, aka Spider-Woman, pursed her lips, unsure of what to say. She barely knew Holm outside their brief meeting.

"Are you healed up now?" Holm finally asked, breaking the awkward silence. "Honestly, you got hurt because of me. If I hadn't pulled you along, you wouldn't have been hit by that bullet."

Gwen instinctively touched her arm and responded, "I'm fine now. Don't worry about it." She paused, adding, "Actually, maybe you would've dodged that bullet if I hadn't been there."

Her point was clear. Holm's unique abilities weren't exactly subtle. He'd been able to deflect a manhole cover without injury and had taken down two Lizardmen without much effort.

Holm chuckled, acknowledging the comment. "Maybe, but who knows? Bullets are fast, and I can't guarantee I'd dodge them every time. So, thanks either way."

Gwen nodded. The situation struck her as somewhat amusing—after all, she'd just thanked Holm earlier, in her civilian persona as Gwen.

"Buzz buzz buzz!" The sound of Holm's phone vibrating interrupted their conversation. Glancing at the caller ID, he saw it was Daisy, so he answered immediately.

Daisy's voice came through, tense and urgent, accompanied by a chaotic background noise: clattering sounds and the rumbling of gunfire. Holm's expression turned serious as he listened intently.

She explained that, ten minutes earlier, her SHIELD team had followed Holm's instructions to find the secret research base where he was currently located. Following his directions, they moved cautiously but quickly, hoping to locate the hidden base. But just a few minutes before she called, things had taken an unexpected turn.

As they made their way through a sewer tunnel with murky water reaching calf-deep, a swarm of Lizardmen erupted from the shadows, launching a surprise attack. The team reacted quickly but was caught off-guard by the ambush, thrown into immediate chaos.

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