"I better get to shoot at someone Jessie!" Sarah said as she closed the door behind them.

Travis looked out into the back alley that they now stood in. There was a van in between the bar and the building next to it.

It was now raining and he could hear screams in the distance. Mia shook in his arms and Rose handed him her jacket. He nodded and covered Mia's head with it protecting her from the rain.

"Come on kids we don't want to waste this opportunity to get the hell out of dodge." Sarah said as she ran towards the van.

Travis followed her and handed Mia to Rose as Sarah opened the back of the van. As the girls piled into the back,Travis hurried to the passenger side and climbed in. He turned to check on the others and was surprised to see them sitting on a couch.

The back of the van had been renovated to house a couch and was lit up by led lights.

"Ok kids don't make a mess, Lucas will kill me if I mess up his van again. Watch the leather, let's go." Sarah said as she turned the ignition. The van roared to life and the headlights turned on.

Standing in the beam were a few disoriented soldiers.

"Go go go!" Lily yelled stretching her head between Travis and Sarah.

"I don't want to hit them." Sarah said as she honked the horn.

"What are you doing?! Now they all know we're here!" Lily yelled.

The soldiers had regained their composure and drew their weapons. They aimed them at the van and turned on their beams of light. Travis could see a beam line up to his forehead.

"Fuck this." Sarah said as she stuck her pistol out of the van window. She fired shots at the soldiers and stepped on the gas.

The soldiers recoiled and jumped out of the way of the van. The vans wheels spun as they raced out of the alley just barely missing the soldiers. Shots fired behind them and broke the street lamp to their right as they barreled out of the street and out of their line of sight.

"What was that?" Travis yelled as they barreled down the road.

"I solved our problem kid, that's what that was. You heard what your friend said, we have to get Mia to safety." Sarah said as she holstered her pistol.

Travis stared at her then to the girls in the back. Mia was holding on tightly to Rose and lily shook next to them.

"Come on! If you guys are gonna go after these guys you can't be this squeamish. I didn't even kill them." Sarah said impatiently.

"I don't think being upset we almost ran over two guys makes us squeamish." Travis said upset.

"Well it doesn't make you what you need to be to beat these guys."

"What do we need to be?"

"Ruthless. This guy has a literal army and you have acne, having a ruthless attitude is what's gonna close the gap." Sarah said as she looked in her rear view mirror checking on Mia. "Maybe."

"Right..." Travis said in response.

Sarah turned to see him staring and smiled.

"Hey, you said you were a big fan right?" She asked as she reached into the glove compartment.

"Yeah, I've been listening to you guys since your first album." Travis said sheepishly.

"A diehard huh? Well seeing how we are now good friends, why don't you take this." Sarah said as she pulled out her prize from the compartment.

It was a chipped drumstick, it had a piece of red faded tape for a handle. She handed it to Travis proudly with a smirk on her face.

"That baby is what I used during the birth of our band. I want you to have it so you can always remember that you need to be ruthless. Not just with this stuff but with every aspect of your life. " Sarah said as she pulled into the center of town.

Travis felt the weight of the drumstick and his heartbeat quickened.

"I can't accept this, it's too precious to just give to some kid." Travis said offering the drumstick back.

"Kid just take it—"  Suddenly Sarah was interrupted as the building to the right of them exploded. The blast shook the van and Sarah swerved as Mia screamed in the back.

"Everyone hold on!" Sarah yelled as the van barreled towards a street lamp.

The impact shook the van and Travis hit his head on the window. Dizzy and confused he looked in the back to see lily had stretched a crash pad from her hand for the girls.

"Is everyone okay back there?" Travis asked worriedly.

Rose gave him a thumbs up and a weak smile and he sighed in relief.

"Ok new rule. Everyone is wearing seatbelts." Sarah said as she rubbed her head.

"That's a new rule?" Rose asked.

"What was that?" Lily asked poking her head in the front.

Travis looked out his window to see the building burning down. There was a burning sign laying on the floor in front of  it, it had a superhero burning slowly on it.

"Judging from that sign, a comic book store just blew up." Sarah said as she turned the ignition. The vans engine sputtered and gave out.

"Shit, I'm in so much trouble. Lucas is gonna be pissed."

The faint sound of falling rocks turned Travis' attention away from Sarah and to the rubble of the comic book store. One of the walls fell down with a loud crash, behind it was a man in a dark coat.

"Sarah turn on the car. We need to leave now." Travis said putting his hand on her shoulder.

"I'm trying kid, I think somethings wrong with the van." Sarah said as she tried the ignition again. Once more it sputtered and gave out weakly.

"Fix it then! We need to leave now!" Travis said as he stared out his window.

The man turned towards the street and slowly started his way towards the van.

"Why are you freaking out? It'll only take awhile." Sarah said turning to face Travis.

"The guy who blew up the building is still here, and he's walking towards us!" Travis said as he pointed out his window.

The man was halfway across the street and Travis could see his coat better in the dying light of the flames. It had a bird insignia on his shoulder.

"How do we know he's the one who did it? Maybe he was at the wrong place at the wrong time?" Sarah asked peering out the window. Suddenly a glob of liquid hit the window, dissolving it instantly.

Sarah jumped in her seat as she hurriedly tried the ignition again. She turned the key looking out the window worriedly. The engine sputtered and gave out as pathetically as before..

"What the hell was that Travis?" Sarah asked as she kept turning the ignition.

"He has an insignia coat and he just flung acid at us. Rose, I think our old friend is back." Travis said as he moved away from the dissolving window.

"Oh this is gonna suck." Travis heard Rose say behind him.

"Sarah we need to get moving now, trust me you don't want to mess with this guy." Rose said as she peaked her head in between the front seats.

"I'm trying! Something must have happened to the engine when we crashed. I think it's not going to start." She said slumping back into her chair.

Travis turned to see the man two feet away from his window.

Travis looked in horror as he looked into Venom's eyes to see delight in them. He was more horrified to see his entire face was now covered in scarlet colored scaly skin and his eyes were a deep shade of yellow.

"I smelled something familiar and it piqued my interest. Imagine my surprise to see you here." Venom said taking a deep breathe. He shivered in excitement and smiled, exposing his sharp teeth.

"Tell me why are you here and not at the bar with Fate? Your supposed to die in that bar alongside that delicious looking red head and that copycat." He said taking a step closer.

"As the adult in charge of these kids I am gonna have to ask you to back the fuck up scaly." Sarah said brandishing her gun.

"Oh so there's more?" Venom said with a smirk.

He cocked back his head and let out a volley of spit on the side of the van melting the side completely. Mia screamed as she saw his malicious smile.

"Hey, that was my fucking van asshole!" Sarah said unbuckling her seatbelt.

"Oh they smell so fragrant. Especially the little one, her scent is so elegant it makes me salivate at the thought." Venom said licking his lips.

"Sadly, she is meant for more than my midnight snack. That girl is Mia Reed is it not?" Venom said stepping closer.

"That smell is something I could never forget. Just like her mother, I wonder if she tasted just like her?" He cackled as he reached his hand toward Mia.

A shot rang out and Venom screeched as he jumped back clutching his arm. It was bleeding profusely, a sickly looking green liquid flowed from his wound.

"What the fuck did I just say punk. Back the fuck away from the kids or there's more where that come from." Sarah said as she aimed her pistol at Venoms face.

He leered at her and winced as he grabbed his arm.

"Guns." Venom scoffed. "So barbaric, I've evolved past the point of using such weapons. Infernal woman, I am a weapon!" Venom said as he leaped towards Sarah.

Suddenly Lily leaped from the van stretching her hand to the size of the car and grabbed venom midair. She dropped her hand from the weight and struggled to raise her hand.

"What are you doing child! Release me before I eat my way out!" Venom screeched as part of Lily's hand bulged.

Lily huffed as she raised her hand and spun in a circle, swinging her arm barely missing the others. As she picked up speed they could hear groaning from inside the stretchy prison.

"Please stop. I think I'm going to be sick."

"Gladly!" Lily yelled as she opened her hand and flung venom straight into the rubble of the burning building. He slammed against the wall with such force it crumbled upon impact.

Silence consumed the space as lily massaged her shoulder and stared at her handiwork.

"I think with a little practice I can really get good at that." She said turning to face the others.

"I want you on my softball team." Sarah said pointing at lily and laughing.

"Sarah we need to go, we can't waste this opportunity to escape. If he's around there's no telling who else is." Travis said getting into the drivers seat and turning on the ignition.

It sputtered and awoke with a weak hum.

"I swear I tried my best with the van." Sarah said as she got into the passenger seat.

Travis put the van in reverse and looked towards the rubble of the building.

"Hey I just realized I never asked you if you know how to drive." Sarah asked sitting up.

"I will eat you alive you bitch!"

Travis watched in terror as the rubble shifted revealing a burning Venom angry and sprinting towards them.

"Floor it Travis!" Lily screamed as venom leaped and grabbed onto the side of the van.

Travis rammed his foot into the gas pedal forgetting it was in reverse and slammed into another street light, hitting venom and showering him in sparks.

The force of the crash shook the van and venom moved to the the back of the van.

"Fucking drive Travis!" Screamed Sarah as she peered our the melted window.

Travis shifted the gear and slammed his foot once again into the pedal. The van sped down the street and Travis saw from his window mirror as venom struggled to stay on the van.

"Where do I go! I can't lead him to your house, he'll kill everyone there." Travis said as he turned down a narrow street onto a lonely stretch of road.

"Just keep driving! I'll force him off." Sarah said as she climbed out of the window.she struggled past the melted window and almost dropped her gun as she hung outside.

"It's been awhile. I'm getting rusty."

"Hey asshole! This isn't an Uber, so get your ass off my van!" Sarah yelled as she unloaded her pistol in the direction of Venom.

"Where the hell are the police when you need them!" Rose yelled as a pile of spit melted the roof of the van.

Venom's face peered through the hole and he laughed as a bullet hit his ear. The pain barely registered as he reached inside grabbing onto Lily's shirt.

"You will be my appetizer tonight, oh how I love this. A dinner and show." He cackled as another bullet hit his shoulder.