The day, Natasha Romanoff in her bck tactical suit, and t Barton, his quiver loaded with arrows slung over his shoulder arrived at the se. The cops couldn't hahe situation and called the Shield outpost for help.

  The local police had sealed off the area, but the officers seemed relieved when the agents arrived. One of them, a youive with a pale fad trembling hands, gestured toward the bar. "You'll want to see this. It's... bad."

  Natasha raised an eyebrow but said nothing, stepping ih t close behind. The sight that greeted them was worse thaher expected.

  The bar was a se of utter age. Blood coated every surface, dripping from walls and pooling on the floor. Body parts were scattered across the room as if someone had detonated a bomb filled with human remains. The smell of iron was suffog. he ter y a dried-up corpse, its skin shriveled and stretched over brittle bones. Its face was frozen in a mask of terror, with hollowed-out sockets where eyes once were.

  "Ugh," t muttered, c his his pce smells worse than a butcher shop in a heatwave."

  Natasha ignored his ent, croug he dried corpse after she took a quick look around. "This isn't just a simple attack," she said with a grim expression. She had seen two simir ses previously, one in Kingpin's base and the other in Oscorps' hideout, but this was even worse than those two. "The blood's still fresh—still liquid—even though hours have passed. And it's... boiling." She looked at the little bubbling pool of blood on her right. "That's not natural."

  t nodded, pointing to a blood-spttered wall. "I've seen some messed-up things, but this is new. You think it's vampires?"

  Natasha stood up, shaking her head. "No. If it were vampires, they'd have draihe bodies pletely, not wasted this much blood. This is something else."

  He tapped an arrow against his , thinking. "Some kind of blood magic, maybe? I mean, I'm no wizard, but this feels... ritualistic."

  She didn't answer immediately, her eyes narrowing as she examihe se. "Look at this." She spotted scorch marks on the floor he corpse a down, brushing her fingers over the charred surface. "These markings... could be from some kind of portal. Someone came in a quickly."

  t frowned. "So, we're dealing with someone who's not just a killer—they've got preat."

  Natasha turo the detective, who had cautiously stepped into the doorway. "Who called this in?"

  The detective swallowed hard. "A couple of neighbor kids found it. They were messing around when they saw the... mess. Ran straight to the station."

  "Any witnesses? Cameras?" t asked, gesturing around the room.

  "Nothing," the detective replied. "This area's a dead zone. No cameras, no foot traffic. Whoever did this picked the perfect pce to go unnoticed."

  Natasha crossed her arms, her expression hard. "This wasn't random. Whoever was here had a reason for killing so many people. A grudge, maybe. Or probably just for fun. Sigh! Keep the cops o. If we got a mania the loose, they might kill again."

  The detective nodded. "Yes, ma'am. We'll stay vigint." He looked around nervously.

  Natasha's gaze swept over the blood-soaked room o time. "We o report this to Director Fury. Get a team to analyze that blood. Whatever's boiling it might tell us something."

  "What should we do about... the bodies?" The detective gestured towards the corpse.

  "Keep the area sealed. No one goes in or out till the agents arrive." She instructed, her voice firm.

  "Yes, ma'am." The detective nodded.

  Natasha walked out, followed by t, and they headed toward their parked car. Onside, t looked at her. "So, what now?"

  She sighed, leaning ba her seat. "Fury will probably send us after the culprit. We don't know enough about them, but I already tell this won't be easy."

  "Should we ask Emma's team to join in? Don't get me wrong. We are dealing with freaks with power here, and Emma's team has dealt with their fair share of freaks. So, it wouldn't hurt to have extra hands on deck." t suggested.

  Natasha didn't answer immediately, her eyes lost in thought. Finally, she nodded. "It might not be a bad idea. They are good at their job. So, it might not be a bad idea."

  ...

  [Meanwhile in NY]

  Peter Parker, dressed casually in a t-shirt and jeans, sat across from Sue Storm at a small table in the bustling food court of the local mall. The two of them had finally mao find some time away from their responsibilities—something that had bee rare in the whirlwind of family life and superhero duties. Sue was happily sipping her iced coffee, aer, with a grin on his face, was trying to enjoy a mueeded break. It had been a month since his st date with Wanda and Rogue, and now it was Sue's turn. Though it was a simple outing, Peter had missed moments like these.

  The sounds of children ughing and the hum of people chatting around them created a peaceful atmosphere, a stark trast to the chaos Peter was usually ed up in. With that many superpowered kids, yeah, it's chaht now, he was focused on his wife. Sue caught his gaze, her blue eyes softening.

  "You've been a great dad," she said with a smile, her voice affeate. "It's good to see you take a breather every on a while. Don't get too used to it, though. The kids will heir superhero dad soon enough."

  Peter chuckled, leaning ba his chair. "Yeah, I don't think I could go too long without saving the day. But I'll admit, these little breaks do feel nice."

  Suddenly, his smile faltered, and his spider senses spiked. A tingliion crawled up his spine, alerting him to danger nearby. His gaze snapped around the food court, his eyes narrowing as he sed the crowd. There was something off in the air, something he couldn't quite pce yet, but the feeling was unmistakable.

  Sue noticed his shift in the mood instantly. "What is it?"

  Peter's fiightened around the edge of the table as he focused on the source of his uhere's something wrong," he muttered, standing up abruptly. "I don't know what, but I feel it." He used his Celestial power to check, but the feeling disappeared. All he got was a streak of red energy and a strong st of blood. "It's go just vanished!"

  "What was it?" Sue asked, her toense.

  Peter shook his head, looking around the crowded food court. "I don't know. Just a red energy signature. Whatever it was... it was gone in an instant."

  "Go," She said with a smile, uanding the situation.

  "You sure? I check it out ter," He said.

  "Yeah. I'll be fiake care of it and then we tinue our date."

  Peter stood up with a nod. He teleported outside into the sky and used his power to track down that energy signature.

  ...

  [Location: Somewhere in the Bronx]

  In a deserted alley, Skarlet appeared with a spark of red energy. 'That was close. To think he could detect me from that far despite the artifact hiding my power.' she thought, taking a deep breath to calm herself.

  She was wearing a tight-fitting dark red dress, bck leather boots, and a bck jacket. A ruby pendant hung from her neck, and her red hair was tied ba a ponytail. Her face ale, her eyes cold, and her expression stoic.

  "So much power..." She looked at her trembling hands. "I wonder what his blood tastes like?" she wondered out loud.

  The thought of drinkier's blood sent a thrill through her. She couldn't stop drooling at the thought. 'It must taste as delicious as he looks.'

  She licked her lips and grinned. She couldn't wait to savor his taste.

  "What kind of freak are you, dy?" A sudden male voice came from behind.

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