"I just don't think that they'll just forgive me after all I've done."

Dagger looked at Scarlet as they came out of the helicopter that brought them to the Triskelion. The complex had finally been fully restored and was available to house all of its former residents, at least until the next attack destroyed it once again. But the designers had taken this into account and set up a few more defences that they hoped would prevent its future destruction.

"Don't worry. You ended up doing the right thing in the end. Besides, what you did was years ago, I'm pretty sure that it's enough time for them to get over what you did. And we've also had things to deal with ourselves, so. I think you're in the clear."

No sooner had she said her reassurances when Iron Patriot came slamming his fist into Scarlet's head. He was knocked to the floor in a daze.

Iron Patriot was about to deliver another blow but Scarlet was able to dodge it as his spider-sense activated. Stingers slipped out as he grabbed onto the armoured arms in an effort to prevent any future attacks.

A flash of black appeared behind Iron Patriot before more people came into view to attack him.

"Traitor!"

"Murderer!"

"You'll pay for what you did!"

"It's all your fault!"

A collection of superheroes were angrily moving toward him as they chanted. He was able to dodge all of their attacks, however.

"Get your lackeys under control you jock pile of goo," Scarlet demanded to the black figure that stood behind them all as it glared at him.

In response, the person jumped and managed to land a hit on him.

"Everyone Stop!" Dagger cried out with worry.

All she could do was watch helplessly as Scarlet was finally restrained and was beginning to get pummelled.

"I SAID STOP!" Dagger released white energy that blinded everyone. "I invited Scarlet here! He's a hero! I know what he did, but did you all forget that he recognized his error in the end and nearly sacrificed himself?" she gritted her teeth.

"I thought you were dead," Cho narrowed his eyes at Scarlet as everyone let go of him.

"You better not try anything funny. Monkey Jo and Tippy-Toe will be keeping an eye on you," Squirrel Girl warns.

"I'll keep your rodents in mind," Scarlet grunted.

Dagger and Scarlet continued into the building without any further interruption. But the others still weren't sure about trusting the old traitor which was shown by how they stared at him as he went by.

Inside of the building was a lot of SHIELD agents going about their business. They didn't seem to care much about the spider-themed man as much as the others. Yet this still unnerved Scarlet, he wasn't sure if they didn't pay any attention to him because they just didn't care, or if it was because they preferred to silently judge him instead.

"Nova! Where are you going in such a hurry?" Scarlet asked as the bucket head dashed by.

"Huh?" Nova stopped and turned.

Dagger waves sheepishly beside Scarlet. He had his arms crossed waiting for Nova to start like the others when he arrived.

"Scarlet Spider. My man, I thought you were dead," Nova dropped to the ground to hug his old friend.

"Wait. You're not mad?" Scarlet couldn't believe it.

"Mad? You saved the city man. Besides, there's something else we're dealing with. And you might be able to help us. It was an Ock creation after all. Come, follow me," Nova glowed with energy once again as he took off in flight.

They entered a laboratory that was home to some equipment being picked up by a stranger in a white suit.

The character was holding up a weight compressor up with ease before the scientist increased the pressure and it had to use an extra set of sharp appendages to hold it up.

"Who is that?" He asked.

"That is not White Tiger, I can confirm that much," the girl dropped the pressure weight as she walked out. The contraption let sparks fly out with a smash.

"Careful with this, Ava! The shit's expensive!" The scientist scolded.

"Welcome back Scarlet," Ava hugged him.

"I'm not used to all this forgiveness," Scarlet admitted. "But I am sorry about what I did. It was my fault Aunt May died. And had I known what I know now" — Scarlet paused. He was the only one who knew about the reason of his existence. He'd found papers on the research that went behind his creation and he wasn't sure he wanted to tell anyone else about it. "Let's just say that if I had a chance to do it all over again, I wouldn't have betrayed you all. I don't know how I'm going to even face Peter."

"Uh. About that, he's dead," Nova confessed.

Dagger stood bye Scarlet and held his hand as he took it all in.

"What—?"

"I'm not so sure about that," Ava interrupted. "When I bonded with the symbiote, I felt Peter. Both times I felt his presence in the symbiote. I think that he might still be alive."

"Symbiote? What symbiote?" Scarlet questioned her.

"A green one. It used to be red and black. It took over Ock during the fight. We don't know where it came from. But we do know that it was likely the last thing to come in contact with Peter before the explosion that decimated the harbour," Nova explained. "But the symbiote might be more of a clone. Peter might really be dead," Nova looked at Ava. "It wouldn't be the first time. We fought the same one again back when Carnage tried to take over New York."

"That isn't a clone. I know what you're talking about. That's a prototype. Ock was using it as a power source. It was infused with unstable energy. It can bring out hidden powers in people but it usually doesn't last. It's hosts usually end up sucked dry within months. But if it found a suitable host then it would have grafted into the DNA so that if it were to ever be removed. Both the host and symbiote would die. Ock was a twisted man," Scarlet's masked furrowed to match the disgust underneath.

The symbiote on Ava's face pulled back to reveal her hopeful look—tears escaping from her eyes.

"We need to save him," she looked at Nova pleadingly.

"Is there anything to save anymore?" He asked her.

He had a point. Throughout these years, Peter and his accomplices have been causing chaos. It was how they unleashed his dangerous presence. Before they cured him, numerous disappearances and accounts of slaughterings were attributed to his symbiote. And now there were the cases of a mysterious green symbiote breaking into SHIELD quarters looking for information.

Was Peter beyond saving now?

"There has to be. I know what I felt," Ava glared at him.