Venom: Funeral Pyre #2

Feb 23

Feb 23 Venom: Funeral Pyre #2

High Tension

Undercover reporter Gray Russell infiltrated the Jadoo gang in order to uncover a secret Hydra laboratory. Unfortunately, he's gotten in too deep and now finds himself being forced into participating a drive-by shooting. The one person who can save him is Eddie Brock, aka Venom is currently pinned in a locked gated doorway being bombarded by a sonic weapon trained upon him by the Punisher. This has weakened Eddie Brock's other, weakening them and has put their lives at risk. Noticing a sewer grate below him, Brock wills a tendril from his symbiote down through the sewers and up around the Punisher's van where it disables the vehicle's power supply, disabling the sonic cannon. With his strength returning, Venom breaks free and continues his search for Gray Russell. At the same time, the Punisher continues searching for the Jadoo gang's hideout. Unfortunately, Venom is too late, as Gray is forced to mow down some rival gang members, and is left wondering when it will all end.

Meanwhile, both the Punisher and Venom continue to hunt for the Jadoo gang, leaving a trail of dead bodies in their wake. Spotting the Punisher in trouble, Brock sends his symbiote to cover the Punisher to protect him from a shotgun blast. After saving the Punisher's life, Venom makes the vigilante promise to spare Gray Russell when they finally find the Jadoo. A man of honor, the Punisher has no choice but to agree to work with the symbiote. At that moment, the Jadoo return to their hideout, and Gray decides to hide out in the Hydra lab he was looking for. There he curses his father and his illegal super-soldier project for getting him into this situation. It's then that Venom and the Punisher find the hideout and begin slaughtering the gang members. Hearing the scream and gunfire, Gray begins to fear the worst and really begins to panic when he sees another gang member mowed down right in front of him.

Wanting to survive this encounter, Gray rushes into one of the test chambers and activates it, hoping to get some kind of power to defend himself. As the Punisher enters the secret lab, Gray is transformed by the chamber device. He emerges from the chamber with red skin and is able to fire heat blasts. He uses these newfound powers to make the Punisher's guns too hot to hold onto. Giving in to his rage, Gray incinerates a gang member when he comes running into the room. That's when Venom enters the room and instantly recognizes Gray because of the birthmark on his neck. Now calling himself Pyre, Gray is furious that Venom didn't arrive in time to stop him from killing and blasts the symbiote.