Slaughter on Fifth Avenue

Venom has escaped from his government captors and appeared in the middle of a parade on Fifth Avenue that is being shown on live television. Venom trashes a TV camera, prompting Trish Tilby to order her camera man to ge the spare they have in the truck. Maintaing a brave face, reporter Trish asks Venom if there is any truth to the rumors that he has been working for a secret government agency. That’s when Agent Daryll Smith arrives on the scene and tells Tilby that there is Venom is insane and nothing he says is true. That’s when her camera man gets the back-up camera up and running. That’s when Venom tells the live viewing audience that the Overreach Committee had faked his death so they could use him as an assassin for jobs that require plausible deniability. He also explains how they had planted a thermite bomb in his chest to force him to comply.[1] Watching from home is Mary Jane Watson, who hopes that Peter will get there soon so he can put Venom out of his misery.

Back on the scene, Agent Smith contacts his superiors —General Arlen Dunlevy, Parker Holdsworth, and Vivian Raintree — to see what they want him to do next. Furious that Venom is telling the media their secrets, Vivian orders Smith to get Venom away from the camera crew and find a way to kill him with a method that they can plausibly deny later. By this point, Spider-Man has ridden atop the subway from Queens into Manhattan, and hitches a ride the rest of the way on top of a taxi cab.

By this point, Agent Smith is mortified by how the situation is turning out when a new superhero calling himself Stentor arrives on the scene. After explaining his body contains nanotechnology that allows him to emmit high frequency sonic screams, Venom laughs in his face for giving such a corny big of exposition in the middle of a conflict. However, he’s not laughing when Stentor unleashes a sonic scream that sends Venom flying into a nearby building, weakening the symbiote. While Venom is recovering from the blast, Agent Smith tells Stentor to stop posing for the media and do something. Unfortunately, Stentor needs a few moments for his sonic scream to recharge. These are moments they don’t have as Venom recovers. Smith tells him to do something so Stentor decides to take on Venom in a one-on-one fist fight. However, his blows don’t harm Venom and he has another good laugh at Stentor’s expense. He then uses his symbiote to rip off Stentor’s costume, leaving him in nothing but his boxer shorts. Embarassed by this sudden turn of events, Stentor makes the smart move by fleeing the scene. However, Venom grabs him with one of his tendrils and tosses him high overhead. Thankfully, Spider-Man arrives in time to catch the embarassed newbie in one of his webs. While Spider-Man is busy getting Stentor to safety, the Overwatch Committee unleashes an army of mini-tanks to try and deal with Venom but he makes short work of the weapons.

When Spider-Man comes divind in, Venom shrugs off his attack and then throws the wall-crawler against a bus.[2] Although Venom is much stronger than him, Spider-Man is able to evade his attacks as well as protect innocent bystanders that are caught in the middle of the battle. Landing near Trish Tilby, she asks Spider-Man if he knows anything about the government’s secret use of Venom. This is news to Spider-Man and before Tilby can question him anymore, Agent Smith pulls him aside. Smith tells Spider-Man it’s all true and asks the wall-crawler to help in neutralizing Venom as a threat. The wall-crawler doesn’t like the sound of any of this but asks Smith to keep on explaining himself anyway. By this time, Venom has managed to escape back into the sewers. As he flees he struggles to remember what he knows about Spider-Man. He decides it’s not important for what he plans on doing to get his revenge.

Recurring Characters

Venom, Spider-Man, Agent Daryll Smith, Trish Tilby, Mary Jane Waston, Arlen Dunlevy, Parker Holdsworth, Vivian Raintree

Continuity Notes

1. Venom’s death was faked in Venom: The Trial #1-3 and he has been a secret government assassin since Venom: License to Kill #1.

2. Spider-Man makes mention of the fact that Venom recently lost some of his memories. Venom has known Peter Parker’s secret identity since he bonded with the symbiote, as explained in Amazing Spider-Man #300. However, a recent blow to the head has made him forget everything about Spider-Man’s secret identity. That happened in Spider-Man: The Venom Agenda #1.