Dawn’s Early Fright!

Doverton, Colorado has just been liberated by Scorn who built a device that would separate Cletus Kasady from the Carnage symbiote. However, in order to spring this trap she also had to imprison Agent Venom. Now both the Venom and Carnage symbiotes are on the loose somewhere in town. As the Venom symbiote flees the Carnage symbiote, it happens upon a gorilla — an animal released from a private zoo.

Meanwhile, at the Ralsby Meat Packing Plant, Flash Thompson is trapped in a containment unit with Cletus Kasady. Flash is a double amputee and without the Venom symbiote, he no longer has legs.[1] Carnage on the other hand has cybernetic legs.[2] However, before he can harm Flash, his mechanical legs crumble to pieces. Still, despite these limitations, the two continue to fight each other to the death.

Outside, the Avengers and Mercury Team begin searching for the symbiotes that are on the loose. That’s when they spot a gorilla — bonded to the Venom symbiote — fleeing an army of other zoo animals that have been taken over by the Carnage symbiote. As Cletus and Flash’s fight takes them throughout the meatpacking plant, the Avengers, Mercury Team, and the Doverton locals try to contain the animals that have been taken over by the Carnage symbiote. That’s when the gorilla bonded to the Venom symbiote slips by. Hawkeye is about to take a shot but Spider-Man tells him to hold his fire. As the gorilla tries to get into the meatpacking plant, it is attacked by a lion bonded to the Carnage symbiote.

Back inside, Cletus manages to stick Flash with a meat hook and strings him up. While outside, the Thing wonders where his sonic blaster went as it would be useful right now. That’s when Scorn arrives and says she borrowed it. She also modified it to make it more powerful and opens fire on the animals possessed by Carnage. With the situation coming under control, Marcus Simms — Mercury Team’s leader — radios in and tries to get the order to firebomb Doverton canceled. However, he doesn’t have the proper authorization, prompting Captain America to grab his radio and take command. Meanwhile, Spider-Man kicks the lion off the gorilla, so it can bring the Venom symbiote back to its proper host.

Meanwhile, the stealth bombers that have been deployed to decimate the town have been given new orders. They are to centralize their attack to the center of town. As everyone evacuates the city proper, the massive Carnage symbiote and the Spider-Doppelganger are the only ones caught in the hail of napalm. Inside the meatpacking plant, the Venom symbiote rebonds with Flash Thompson, allowing him to easily overpower Cletus Kasady. Back outside, Scorn finds a portion of the Carnage symbiote that survived the devastation and contains it, per the secondary objective of their mission. Meanwhile, Agent Venom has emerged from the meatpacking facility with Cletus Kasady. He has decided against eliminating Kasady out of respect for Spider-Man.[3]

However, Eric Morrell wants Cletus Kasady to die for what he has done to his hometown and tries to shoot him with his rifle. Luckily for Kasady, the Thing’s rocky hide blocks the shot. Spider-Man scolds Eric, telling him that if killing Cletus would make him just as bad as he is. That’s when Eric reveals that he had three children and his daughter Stephanie was murdered by Carnage. Hearing this renders Spider-Man speechless. Wolverine on the other hand wonders why they didn’t punch Kasady’s clock. Hawkeye points out that stopping Carnage’s bid to take over the world was enough. Surveying the damage done in his wake, Wolverine isn’t entirely sure.

Recurring Characters

Carnage, Agent Venom, Scorn, New Avengers (Spider-Man, Wolverine, Thing), Captain America, Hawkeye, Spider-Doppelganger, Mercury Team (Marcus Simms, Lasher, Riot, Phage, Agony), Eric Morrell, Hannah Morell, Cole Morell

Continuity Notes

1. Flash Thompson lost his legs in combat while serving in the military in Amazing Spider-Man #574.

2. Cletus Kasady lost his own legs when he was ripped in half by the Sentry in New Avengers #2. He was later given cybernetic legs by Hall Industries. See Carnage #1-5.

3. Agent Venom bashfully tells Captain America that he’s a huge fan of Spider-Man. Flash Thompson has been a fan of Spider-Man since he was a teenager. He even founded one of the first Spider-Man fan clubs back in Amazing Spider-Man #17.