Venom: Nights of Vengeance #3

Feb 23

Feb 23 Venom: Nights of Vengeance #3

The Hunt

Forced to be hunted like prey by the Stalkers, Venom and Vengeance have found themselves teleported to the middle of the South American rainforest. Although Venom doesn't like this idea, the lives of his friends Beck Underwood and Heather are at stake if he doesn't participate. Lost in thought, Venom is struck by a stun beam fired by Kass, leaving Venom vulnerable to attack from him and his colleague Raiden. He is then blasted into a nearby river and swept down a waterfall. Meanwhile, Briggs and Trent are hunting for Vengeance. Brigg's tracks his spoor and then locks onto his heat signature. They blast the tree that Vengeance is hiding behind. However, on the other side is Michael Badilino -- Vengeance's alter-ego -- not recognizing him in his human form, the two members of the Stalkers depart to look for their hunt elsewhere. While their backs are turned, Badilino transforms himself into Vengeance.

Meanwhile, back in the United States, Beck and Heather are still prisoners within the alien ship hidden in the Colorado Rockies. The two women admit to each other that they have undefined feelings toward Eddie Brock. Their discussion is interrupted by the arrival of Sean Knight, who is fighting off the ship's defensive robots to save them. After destroying the robot, he begins freeing the women so they can get out. When Beck asks Sean if he has heard from Eddie, he tells her no but assures her that Venom can look after himself. While back at the waterfall, Raiden decides to give up on finding Venom's body, but Kass doesn't want to stop until he can wear Venom's head on his belt. As Kass looks around, he is unaware that Venom has been using his camouflage ability to blend in with the water. After a struggle, Venom learns that Kass has been completely absorbed by the alien entity possessing. Knowing that he no longer has to hold back, Venom decapitates the technorganic being. Back in the state, Sean continues to fight through the security systems to get Beck and Heather to safety.

In South America, Trent, Raiden, and Biggs find the decapitated body of Kass. The trio absorbs Kass's life force, increasing their own power. As Trent and Raiden fly off to search for their prey, they leave Briggs alone to be ambushed by Vengeance. Vengeance manages to blow Briggs into pieces with a concentrated blast of hellfire. Venom has caught up to his ally by that point and is impressed by this display. He tells Vengeance that they'll need to work together to slay their final two opponents so they can get back to Beck and Heather. Needing a mode of transport, Vengeance points out that while he can summon his motorcycle, it will take it a while to get to them from Colorado. Instead, they find a drug smuggling operation that has an airplane. However, before they can do anything, they are ambushed by Raiden, alerting the drug dealers to notice their presence. As Vengeance destroys Raiden with another blast of hellfire, Trent finds the remains of Briggs and absorbs his power. While in Colorado, Sean, Heather and Beck's escape is interrupted when they are attacked by the technoganic materials inside the ship. Sean soon realizes, much to his horror, that they are about to be assimilated by this entity just like the Stalkers were.

At that moment, Vengeance and Venom are trying to commandeer the drug dealer's aircraft when they are attacked by Trent. Venom leaps out of the plane and tries to fight off their attacker, but the flames nearby weaken him. Vengeance then comes to help Venom, tossing Trent into the airplane, and is seemingly destroyed in the blast. At that moment, Vengeance's motorcycle arrives on the scene, allowing them to make their long trip back to America. However, Trent is far from destroyed, as he emerges from the rubble after they have left, intent to continue the hunt.