Can't Get no Relief!!

Learning that Carnage is holed up in the penthouse apartment of video game designer Fordham Rhodes, Venom heads there in the hopes of stopping his nemesis once and for all. Unfortunately, the authorities have the area surrounded and upon seeing Venom begin opening fire upon the symbiotic vigilante. Unable to slip past them, Venom is forced to go down to the street and fight through the officers in order to get past. Hearing the gunfire on the streets below, Carnage is amused to see that his "father" has come to stop him. Fordham Rhodes is also delighted because of all the publicity this will bring to his Carnage Unleashed video game, potentially earning his company millions of dollars. This makes him a target of Carnage's anger as he has been pushed out of any royalties and wants his cut of the money. Psychologist Camille Pazzo warns Rhodes not to work Carnage up because he is unpredictable. However, upon hearing of all the potential customers who will pop-up online, Carnage realizes that he could use his ability to send his symbiote's tendrils across the internet to slaughter massive amounts of people. To this end, Carnage uses the Rhodes resources to plaster online advertisements to encourage people to log into the Carnage Unleashed website.[1]

By this point, Venom has evaded the authorities and is swinging through Times Square when he sees one of these advertisements on one of the electronic billboards. Realizing what Carnage is trying to do, and knowing that the billboard is wired to the internet, Venom disguises himself as a courier delivering a package to get access to the billboard's control room. Eddie interrupts the technician and his manager as they are talking to Fordham Rhodes on the phone, unaware that he is being forced to make arrangements for the advertisements by Carnage. Ordering the technician to connect them to Fordham's computer, Brock changes into Venom and sends one of his own tendrils across the internet. Appearing on Rhodes' computer screen, Venom challenges Carnage to face him one-on-one over cyberspace. As the two battle it out across the internet, Fordham gets on the phone with his partners to try and find the best way to capitalize on this once in a lifetime battle. However, while Carnage is distracted, Camille Pazzo insists that they do something to stop the notorious serial killer. She and Alana get resistance from Fordman, whose greed is getting the better of him. The two women knock him out, just as the battle between Venom and Carnage causes the computers to overhead, forcing them back out of the simulated battle. While Carnage is distracted, Camille douses him alcohol which Alana sets aflame with a lighter. Shrieking in pain, Carnage flails around and falls out the window. Hearing what happened over the phone line, Venom sends his tendrils through the phone and prevents Carnage from falling to his death so that he can face justice for all the chaos and death he has caused.

Thanks to Venom's quick thinking, the incapacitated Cletus Kasady is delivered into the hands of Doctor Ashley Kafka and John Jameson of the Ravencroft Institute, who have just arrived on the scene. John orders his guards to try and contain Venom as well, but Ashley tells them to stand down, not wanting to cause any more collateral damage. While back up in the penthouse, Fordham Rhodes laments how his huge money-making scheme is now falling apart. He doesn't get much by way of sympathy from Alan and Camille, who hope that he gets what he deserves for trying to capitalize on the destruction caused by Carnage. Meanwhile, the billboard technicians ask Venom why he spared Carnage's life. He explains that Carnage is ultimately suicidal and wants someone to end his life for him, and refuses to give his nemesis the satisfaction.

As Cletus Kasady is being loaded into a containment unit, the immediate danger is now over. However, things are about to get more complicated for Eddie Brock. At that very moment, the young musician named Kristin puts in a call to her mother. She wants revenge against Venom for crippling her boyfriend Clive Gooch. An assassin-for-hire, Kristin's mother assures her daughter that Eddie Brock is as good as dead.

Recurring Characters

Venom, Carnage, Camille Pazzo, Fordham Rhodes, Ashley Kafka, John Jameson

Continuity Notes

1. All of the technical specifications mentioned here were considered state of the art when this story was published in 1995. However, modern readers should consider them to be topical references per the Sliding Timescale of Earth-616.