Trial and Error

The trial of Venom has gotten out of control when both Venom and his rival, Carnage, are able to shake off the dopamine inhibitors that prevented them from controlling their symbiotes wears off. Caught in-between the two symbiotes is their mutual enemy, Spider-Man. The wall-crawler tries to convince Venom to stand down and let the authorities handle this situation, but Venom refuses to do so forcing Spider-Man to try and stop both of them. Meanwhile, the authorities try to empty out the courtroom, Matt Murdock struggles to be let back in so he can be with his client, Eddie Brock. When District Attorney Gracia Hidalgo blames him for this disruption, Murdock points out that none of this would have happened if she hadn't brought Cletus Kasady in as a witness.

With the courtroom cleared out, the officers begin opening fire on the three combatants inside. However, Detective Clark orders them to cease fire until they can get Carnage clear of the others. Ultimately, Venom manages to subdue Carnage and is about to end his life when Spider-Man orders him to stop.[1] Back outside, Matt Murdock manages to get away from the mob of people forced outside to change into Daredevil. Using his billy club to swing over them in order to get into the courtroom. As Spider-Man fails to stop Venom from taking the law into his own hands, Daredevil tries to convince him to stand down and let the authorities deal with Carnage. This distraction allows Carnage to get his strength up enough to try and make his escape. While everyone is busy trying to stop Carnage from fleeing, Venom spots Doctor Yao -- the man who created the dopamine blockers -- and the district attorney and decides to confront them.[2] Seeing Venom trying to leave the scene while Spider-Man and Daredevil try to stop Carnage convinces her that Venom is as evil as she believes. Seeing that the two heroes are not doing well to stop Carnage, Venom decides to get involved, collecting a sample of the dopamine blocker from Doctor Yao.[3]

Venom leaps in and beats Carnage into submission, then injects him with enough of the dopamine blocker to prevent Cletus from controlling his symbiote. As Kasady is being taken back into custody, Detectives Clark and Steen order Venom to stand down with Hidalgo assuring Brock that the judge will go easy on him if he surrenders and finishes his trial. Venom complies just as Agent Darryl Smith arrives to take control of the situation, closing off the courtroom from the press. There, before everyone Smith hands over papers from the Secretary of Defence to the judge. They are proclaiming that responsibility for Venom is being put in the hands by the United States government and that he is being put into federal protective custody for national security reasons. However, in order for this to happen, Agent Smith orders Venom to become Eddie Brock and agree to be led out in handcuffs. At first, Venom disagrees but is convinced by the others to comply. Eddie Brock is then escorted out of the courthouse in front of all the news media and taken away by the federal government. Once they leave the courthouse, Agent Smith hands Eddie a badge, telling him that he is being made a secret agent as part of a special government program in exchange for amnesty for his past crimes.

Recurring Characters

Venom, Spider-Man, Daredevil, Carnage, Detectives Clark and Steen, Garcia Hidalgo, Daryll Smith, Trish Tilby, Dr. Yao

Continuity Notes

1. Venom mentions how he is responsible for creating Carnage. His symbiote gave birth to the one that Cletus Kasady now wears back in Amazing Spider-Man #344.

2. Venom is particularly upset with Gracia Hidalgo because she wants to him put to death. This should be considered a topical reference per the Sliding Timescale of Earth-616 as New York state abolished the death penalty in 2007.

3. Hidalgo says "it was a sad day when all the real super-heroes went away". At the time of this story, everyone believes that the Fantastic Four and Avengers were killed during Onslaught Marvel Universe #1. In reality, they live on in a pocket dimension as seen in the Heroes Reborn event. They will eventually return to their native reality in Heroes Reborn: The Return #1-4.