Chapter 7: Siblings, Symbiotes and Strange
Quicksilver (MCU) has recently returned to New York, after a long period of absence, and he’s noticed the changes. The city is in turmoil, and every hero and villain seems to be doing their part to escalate the conflict. But Pietro Maximoff isn’t here to fight for good or evil, he's here because someone has been threatening his sister and she has gone missing, The Scarlet Witch (MCU). The fear of losing Wanda once again drives him to extreme measures, and he's willing to tear apart anyone who gets in his way.
He quickly crosses paths with Deadpool after an explosive encounter with Jack O’Lantern. He hears Jack O’Lantern say “Okay, crispy. Give me your best shot.”Jack O’Lantern then cackled, kicking his glider into motion. He hovered just above the rooftop, tossing another bomb up and down. Jack then said "Oh, Wade… Have you ever heard the phrase "don't play with fire?" Deadpool whipped out his katanas, twirling them dramatically and said "Yeah, yeah. But have you ever heard the phrase "please stop throwing bombs at me?" Jack hurled the next explosive. This time, Deadpool was ready. He sliced mid-air, splitting the bomb in two only for the halves to explode anyway, sending him flying backward. "Oof! Okay, that one was on me." said Deadpool.
Before the next move could be made, a gust of wind roared through the alley below, sending loose debris flying. Both men barely had time to react before a blur of silver shot up the side of the building and landed between them. Jack O’Lantern staggered back. Deadpool squinted. “Oh we have a speedster!” yelled Deadpool in excitement. Pietro Maximoff stood there, his fists clenched at his sides, his entire body buzzing with restless energy. "Where," he growled in his Sokovian accent, "is he?" Jack O’Lantern tilted his head and said "Gonna need some specifics, speedy." Quicksilver replied "The one threatening my sister. I know he’s here."Deadpool crossed his arms while laying on the rooftop and said "Buddy, you’re gonna have to narrow it down for us. This city’s full of people with bad decision-making skills."
Pietro wasn’t listening. His focus was on Jack O’Lantern. "You set the fires. You spread chaos. You work for someone." Quicksilver explained. Jack O’Lantern laughed, spinning his knife. "Aw, you think I take orders? Cute. But hey, I’m flattered you think I’m important enough to be the big bad." Pietro vanished from sight. A fraction of a second later WHAM! Jack O’Lantern rocketed backward as a blur of silver struck him like a freight train. His body slammed into a brick wall and he landed on a fire escape, his breath leaving him in a painful wheeze. Pietro reappeared where he had stood, dusting off his hands.Deadpool let out a long whistle and joked "Damn. Even I felt that one Lightning Mcqueen."Jack groaned, coughing as he struggled to his feet. His pumpkin head had cracked from the impact. He wiped blood from his lip, eyes burning with rage.
Deadpool clapped his hands and said "Okay, I like where this is going. Do I get to pick teams? Because I really want to be on the winning side for once." Pietro ignored him, stepping toward Jack again, faster than the eye could track. Jack O’Lantern grinned and said "Alright, speedster. Let’s see if you can outrun this." He pressed a button on his gauntlet. From the burning streets below, several drones lifted into the air small, spherical, each one loaded with miniature pumpkin-shaped explosives. Deadpool’s mask eyes widened. "Okay, now we’re talking." Jack O’Lantern wiped his mouth and smirkingly said "Let’s really light this city up." Pietro’s jaw clenched. Deadpool cracked his knuckles. And then the rooftop erupted into chaos. Quicksilver and Deadpool fought Jack O’Lantern for sometime until he fled from being overwhelmed by the two. Deadpool’s antics are reckless,Quicksilver can’t help but be annoyed, yet secretly impressed by his resilience.
Jack O’Lantern flees to Hammerhead but is being chased by Deadpool.Flying his way to Hammerhead, Jack O’Lantern barely had time to react before Deadpool leaped from a rooftop, katanas drawn, and landed right on his glider."SURPRISE! Jackass" yelled Deadpool. Jack flailed. “What the fuck?!" Before he could shake him off, Deadpool jammed a combat knife into the glider’s control panel. Sparks erupted, and the craft started spiraling wildly. “Oh, look at that," Deadpool said mockingly. "I just performed emergency surgery on your ride.The glider sputtered violently, spinning out of control as Jack fought to stabilize it. But Deadpool wasn’t done. Jack groaned, momentarily dazed and said “You psycho! What do you want?!” Deadpool grinned under his mask and said “Oh, I dunno. Maybe I just wanted to ride a flaming murder glider through the city like a badass! Or maybe I’m here to find out why New York suddenly turned into a Michael Bay movie.” At the last second, Deadpool kicked off, launching himself toward a rooftop, while Jack crashed through the awning of a home improvement store, disappearing inside with a loud CRASH!
Deadpool landed gracefully (more or less), dusted himself off, and peered over the ledge.“Oof. That sounded expensive.”He hopped down into the building through a broken window, cracking his knuckles as he approached Jack’s crumpled body. The villain groaned, attempting to crawl away, but Deadpool planted a boot on his chest.“Alright, Jacky-boy,” Deadpool said cheerfully. “Now that I saved you from an embarrassing high-speed death... let’s have ourselves a little chat.” Deadpool tilted his head and looked down at Jack and said "Now you wanna talk before I have to go full Home Depot on your ass. My torture tools are literally all around us.”Jack swallowed hard then said "What... what do you wanna know?" Deadpool grinned beneath his mask and chuckled "Oh, buddy. Everything."Jack whimpered. "I work with Hammerhead and Zemo is running everything." Deadpool snapped his fingers. "See? That wasn’t so hard! And here I thought you were all about pain tolerance. Now, let’s go deeper. What's the big scary secret you guys are keeping, huh? I know something’s got all the villains in this city acting extra feral. Spill, or we start playing ‘Which Organ Can You Live Without?’ Jack took a shuddering breath. "It’s... it's the Darkhold."
Deadpool froze. Even he wasn’t expecting that. Jack coughed and said "Hammerhead’s got it. That’s how... that’s how he’s controlling the Venoms. Zemo helped him get it. The book it’s twisting their minds, making them more savage. More... obedient." Deadpool scratched his chin. "Huh. Evil book. Mind-controlling symbiotes. Jack groaned "That’s all I know, man. I swear."Deadpool stepped back, considered and said "Hmm. Alright, alright. I believe you. I mean, I could keep torturing you for funsies, but honestly, I’ve got places to be." Deadpool then left Jack O’Lantern and began texting someone "Hey, Webs! Got a hot tip for ya! . . .
Hammerhead and his Venoms continue their reign of terror, a desperate move is made. Doctor Strange, Ghost Rider and Blade have teamed up, realizing that the symbiotes are just a symptom of something larger: the Darkhold’s influence. Hammerhead has the Darkhold and uses it to control the Venoms. Doctor Strange's warning about the growing power of dark magic forces the heroes to delve deeper into a mystical conflict, one that could cause irreparable harm to the city.