Spider-Man/Red Sonja #5
Since his symbiote was stolen from him by the ancient sorcerer Kulan Gath, Eddie Brock feels empty. Taken prisoner by Kulan Venom’s forces, Brock is able to feel the symbiote nearby as he is being brought to the scene where Spider-Man fell in battle. He is shocked to see the web-slinger held prisoner by a tree that has been bent into shape by Kulan Venom’s magic. The mystic assures Spider-Man that he will be kept alive until he can track down Red Sonja so they can perish together. Spider-Man wishes him luck, thinking that Red Sonja is out of his reach. However, Kulan Venom begins casting a spell to pull her back into his domain.
Red Sonja is outside the mystical barrier on the George Washington Bridge where she was just shot by police for refusing to put down her sword. Before the police can take her into custody, Kulan Venom expanded his mystical barrier transforming everything it touches into the Hyborian nightmare that he has created over most of Manhattan. As Red Sonja struggles to get to her feet, Kulan Venom orders his minions to capture her so he can perform a sacrificial ritual that will grant him even more power. Unfortunately, she is easily knocked out by her attackers and taken prisoner. When Red Sonja wakes up she finds herself bound to a tree right next to Spider-Man. Red Sonja refuses to believe she failed as she fought for the cause of love for the first time in her life instead of revenge. She cannot believe she has failed both Spider-Man and the woman he loves, Mary Jane, whose body she now possesses. Kulan Venom orders them to be silent and then explains how the blood ritual he will commit will give him enough power so he will no longer need a host body to exist outside his amulet ever again.
While down in the crowd below, J. Jonah Jameson and Joe Robertson watch, waiting for the right moment to attack with Joe’s resistance fighters. However, before they can act, Eddie Brock forces himself to the front of the crowd and demands that Kulan Venom gives back his symbiote. This creates a distraction for Joe and his warriors to attack. While Kulan Venom is distracted, Spider-Man and Red Sonja break free from their bonds. As Spider-Man and Red Sonja attack Kulan Venom, he begins losing his control over the symbiote which starts trying to separate from him to rejoin Eddie Brock. Having decided he has had enough, Kulan Gath blasts Spider-Man, Red Sonja, and the symbiote aside with a powerful mystical blast. The symbiote then rejoins with Eddie Brock, changing him into Venom once again and he flees the scene. Having grown fed up with the resistance to his plans, Kulan Gath orders his minions to kill everyone. However, Spider-Man and Red Sonja attack again. Red Sonja gets close enough to Kulan Gath that she shatters the gem in the center of his necklace.
This also shatters Kulan Gath’s spell causing everything to start changing back to normal while Gath himself is sucked back into the necklace. Feeling Mary Jane returning, Red Sonja tells Spider-Man that his beloved will be back soon and moves in to kiss him. When the spell is finally reversed it is Mary Jane who is kissing Spider-Man and Manhattan has been restored to normal. Watching from the rooftops, Venom remarks how the spider has what he wants and one day so will they. While on the street, J. Jonah Jameson and Joe Robertson try to make sense of what happened. Jameson figures Spider-Man had something to do with it before dismissing the entire episode as some mass hallucination. While in the distant past, Red Sonja wakes up laying on an altar to Kulan Gath. She digs out the bullet imbedded in her arm and considers it a strange reminder of an even stranger battle. Although she is home, she knows that things with Kulan Gath are far from over. While in the present, everyone is trying to make sense of what happened the night before. Out for dinner with Mary Jane, Peter assures her that he saved the world as usual. When giving a brief explanation as to what happened, Mary Jane is bothered to hear that he fought alongside a warrior woman in a chainmail bikini.
Recurring Characters
Spider-Man, Red Sonja, Kulan Gath/Kulan Venom, Venom, Mary Jane Watson, J. Jonah Jameson, Joe Robertson
Continuity Errors
A newscast in this story states that Senator Bryan Glass resigned from politics. The error here is the name Bryan Glass, as in issue #1 of Spider-Man/Red Sonja the politician in question was named Senator Thomas.
