Dark Soul Drifting

In the city of San Francisco, a mugger corners a young woman in an alleyway. Discovering that she doesn't have a whole lot of money, the mugger decides to rape the woman. However, before he can commit this horrific act, he is interrupted by Venom. Disgusted by such a vile human being, Venom forces tendrils from his symbiote into the mugger's nose and mouth, suffocating him to death. With the mugger dead, Venom picks up the woman's purse and taps her on the head before leaping away. Horrified by the entire experience, the woman runs out of the alley, screaming. Swinging across the city, Venom tells his symbiote that coming back to San Francisco, was a good idea. Venom has decided to give up on his vendetta against Spider-Man after deciding he really is a hero, relocating to San Francisco to protect innocents here.[1] With his symbiote turning into street clothes, Eddie Brock goes to a hotel to rent a room for the night. He is recognized by two police officers who try to arrest him, forcing Brock to become Venom and flees. On his way out, he is photographed by a tourist who happens to see him swing away.

Hours later, in Manhattan, Peter Parker arrives at the Daily Bugle. There he learns from Ben Urich about the Venom sighting in San Francisco. This news gets Peter thinking about how he is responsible for Venom existing. He remembers how he brought the symbiote to Earth after the end of the Secret Wars.[2] Later, he discovered that the symbiote was alive and was forced to try and kill it before it permanently bonded to him.[3] However, it survived, and found Eddie Brock who hated Spider-Man after the hero's capture of the Sin-Eater exposed his exclusive interviews with the killer were with an impostor.[4] As Venom, Eddie Brock and the symbiote became devoted to destroying Spider-Man, resulting in a number of battles.[5] Peter then recalls his recent encounter with Venom, where he helped Eddie save the life of his ex-wife Anne Weying. It was then that Venom promised to leave Spider-Man alone if the wall-crawler stopped coming after him. Still, Peter can't bring himself to honor this deal, so he calls his wife Mary Jane to have her pack him a bag so he can go to San Francisco to track down Venom.[6]

The following day, Eddie Brock is walking through a park trying to figure out a solution to his housing situation. He happens upon a group of homeless people being hassled by a bunch of men in suits. Brock confronts the men, and when they pull guns on him, Brock turns into Venom. Not far away, Spider-Man is swinging through the city when he hears gunshots. He spots Venom fighting the gunmen, and thinking the men are police officers, he leaps in to stop Venom. Brock stops Spider-Man and tries to convince the wall-crawler that these are not police officers. Spider-Man quickly believes Eddie when his spider-sense begins going off and the pair narrowly avoid a stream of gunfire. While Spider-Man deals with the shooters, Venom shields the homeless people from the bullets. By the time Spider-Man finishes wrapping up the gunmen, he notices that Venom and the homeless people have disappeared. Later, in Oregon, retired Army General Orwell Taylor watches a news report about the battle between Spider-Man and Venom. While looking at a photo of his son, Orwell places a call and tells his men to get ready to mobilize.[7]

While back in San Francisco, Eddie Brock is being led through a massive tunnel by the homeless people he saved. He has been invited to their sanctuary in thanks for his help. They explain that their sanctuary has become the target of developer Roland Treece. However, not everyone is fond of Brock coming to their community, however, this descent is told that it is up to their council to decide if Venom can stay in their home. Rounding a corner, they run into some of Roland Treece's Diggers, men in massive tunneling exo-suits. Eddie turns into Venom to defend his new charges. Unfortunately, the Diggers have him outnumbered and overpower once they begin unleashing their sonic cannons on the symbiote. One of the Diggers then hits Venom so hard that the ground underneath them gives way. The pair fall into the middle of at early 20th Century city. Disorientated from the fall, Venom thinks that they have fallen through time.

Recurring Characters

Venom, Spider-Man, Orwell Taylor, Ben Urich

Continuity Notes

1. Venom decided to put aside his differences with Spider-Man in Amazing Spider-Man #375.

2. Spider-Man first wore the symbiote in Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #8, bringing it to Earth in Amazing Spider-Man #252.

3. Peter learned the symbiote was alive in Amazing Spider-Man #258. He was forced to try and kill it in Web of Spider-Man #1.

4. Brock's fall from grace was first detailed in Amazing Spider-Man #300. Spider-Man caught the real Sin-Eater during the events of Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #107-110.

5. Of the battles Peter recalls are Spider-Man and Venom's first fight in Amazing Spider-Man #300, as well as the time they fought on a tropical island in Amazing Spider-Man #374.

6. Peter and Mary Jane are referred to as husband and wife here. However, years later, their marriage is erased from existence by Mephisto in Amazing Spider-Man #545. As such they should be considered a common-law couple here.

7. As revealed in Venom Lethal Protector #3, Orwell is seeking revenge on Venom for murdering his son. Venom killed Hugh Taylor while escaping the Vault in Amazing Spider-Man #315.