The Monster Inside Me

Carnage has tracked down Officer Pat Mulligan in order to kill its offspring which has bonded itself to the officer. However, before any harm can come to Mulligan, the Toxin symbiote emerges for the first time and begins defending its host. Venom arrives on the scene and decides to hold back as Toxin appears to be holding his own against Carnage. Toxin renounces Carnage as his father and tosses him out of the apartment. The entire experience is draining for both symbiote and host and after Toxin withdraws into its host, Pat Mulligan collapses to the ground. When the Black Cat checks to see if Pat is okay, he tells her to get away from him because the monster is inside him. At that moment, Cletus Kasady pulls himself up off the ground in an alley and is now angrier than ever.

Back in the apartment, Pat Mulligan has gotten ahold of himself and is trying to make sense of what happened to him and how he’s going to explain this all to his chief. The Black Cat suggests that Pat not tell anyone and keep the Toxin symbiote a secret and not spread the word that he’s some kind of monster now. Pat isn’t sure if he can keep this a secret because he takes his duties as a police officer very seriously. However, he realizes the necessity of it when the Cat asks how he plans on explaining this to his wife, Gina. Still, he finds himself incredibly conflicted between his duty. Felicia tells him that the old rules that used to govern his life no longer apply and he’s going to have to learn to be more flexible in the future. Before he can say anything else, the Black Cat slips away before he can notice she’s gone.

Later, Pat and Gina have moved into a new apartment so they can raise their newborn son, Edward. On the day they bring the boy home they celebrate with the family. Although this is supposed to be a great day, Pat can’t help but worry about what the future has in store for him. When Pat is told that his father has just arrived, Pat drops his baby but thankfully his enhanced reflexes allow him to grab Edward before he hits the floor. Handing his son over to his father, Pat says that he has decided to follow the Black Cat’s advice and become more flexible. Leaving the apartment, Pat’s father hasn’t any idea what his son was talking about.

Outside, Pat tests out the abilities he has gained from bonding with the symbiote. As he runs and climbs the side of buildings, Pet reminds himself that he has a monster inside of him and tells himself to get used to it. Meanwhile, Cletus Kasady is in his apartment chastising his symbiote for allowing itself to be beaten by its own son. The symbiote then threatens to leave him, but Cletus doubts it will be able to find a host like him again. By this time, Pat Mulligan has tracked down Carnage by scent and is outside Kasady’s apartment window wondering what to do next, as he has never killed anyone before. Before he can make up his mind, Carnage becomes aware of his presence and attacks.

Allowing the Toxin symbiote to emerge, Pat decides that he is going to kill Carnage after all. As they trade blows, Toxin asks why Carnage had him if he never wanted a child. Carnage doesn’t have an answer, which angers Toxin since — as a police officer — Pat Mulligan has seen a lot of atrocities committed toward children. Although Toxin overpowers Carnage again, he discovers that he can’t bring himself to kill him and leaves. Returning home, Pat goes to bed with his wife but soon discovers that he can’t sleep. His life doesn’t make sense anymore, but picking his child up out of his crib Pat decides that he will use his new abilities to make the world a safer place for his son. When Gina wakes up and asks if the baby is okay, Pat says Edward is fine. Taking the baby, Gina tells her husband to go to bed because he looks terrible. Returning to his bedroom, Pat thinks about how most married couples have things they don’t talk about — past love affairs, money — he and his wife, however, don’t talk about monster.

Meanwhile, Venom and Carnage have decided to team-up. Venom, who was hoping to recruit Toxin as an ally against Spider-Man has become disappointed that Toxin couldn’t bring himself to kill Carnage and that he is acting more like the accursed wall-crawler instead of a true symbiote. Both agree to work together to destroy Toxin.

The following day, Toxin interrupts a bank robbery in progress. He quickly disarms the bank robbers who are affraid of the Toxin. He is debating on if he should kill them or not when one of them sees the outline of a police badge under the symbiote’s mass. Realizing that they are dealing with some kind of cop, the bank robbers point out that police officers don’t kill because it's against the rules. Toxin then informs them that the rules have changed…

Recurring Characters

Venom, Carnage, Toxin, Black Cat, Gina Mulligan, Edward Mulligan, Jim Mulligan