Venom: Sinner Takes All #3
Eve of Destruction
After she was wounded by the Sin-Eater, Anne Weying was taken to a long-abandoned bomb shelter by her ex-husband Eddie Brock. In order to save her life, Eddie made his symbiote bond with her in order to heal her wounds. That's when their hideaway was interrupted by two squatters who claim the shelter for their own. They attack Eddie, who tries to defend himself, but without the added strength from the symbiote, he is easily overpowered. However, that's when Anne wakes up and fully bonded with the symbiote becomes She-Venom. She savagely attacks them and is about to kill the two homeless men when she is stopped by Eddie, who points out that she is not acting like herself. Unfortunately, Anne doesn't listen and tosses Eddie aside and then slaughters their would-be killers.
Meanwhile, on the surface, a police task force surrounds the Chapel of the Good Sheppard. They are searching for Michael Engleschwert, the new Sin-Eater, whose identity they discovered only after they arrested the wrong man earlier that evening.[1] Heading this squad is Chief Eamon Reilly, who warns his men to be careful because Engleschwert is a mentally disturbed individual who was discharged from the military due to his illness.[2] officers surround who they think is Steve Engleschwert, asleep in a cot provided by the homeless shelter. However, when they pull back the sheets, they discover a pile of explosives and Bibles stacked in the vague shape of a human being. With three seconds left on the timer, the officers fail to get out before the bombs go off, killing everyone inside.
While back underground, Eddie pulls Anne off of her victims and forces the Venom to bond with him again. Weying is horrified by what she had done while bonded to the symbiote, feeling as though she was seduced by something of pure evil. Venom tries to explain that he had no other choice as he needed to heal her wounds and the symbiote was the only way he could do it. This does little to comfort Anne, who tells Eddie that she will hate him forever for allowing his alien other to violate her in such a way. While in Midtown Manhattan, a woman claiming to be Anne Weying's sister convinces explains to the doorman that she had come as soon as she heard her sister was shot. Feeling sympathy for the crying woman, the doorman agrees to help her get into Anne's apartment with an emergency key. While on Staten Island, Michael Engleschwert pays a visit to Acme Aegis Alarm Systems. After providing the password, he is allowed inside where a secret meeting of the Staten Island Citizen's Militia is underway. His friend, a man named Forrest, excitedly tells the other militia members about Steve's time in the military. However, things take a turn when Steve puts on his Sin-Eater costume and guns down all the militia members regardless of if they are armed or not, quoting Bible verse as he slaughters the gathering of men. Going into the back room, the Sin-Eater gathers up all of the weapon stockpiles and loads them into the back of a transport van. As he drives away, the spree killer tosses some grenades back into the building to blow up all traces of his presence there.
Elsewhere in the city, Anne Weying flees to the surface, not wanting anything to do with Eddie Brock. Brock follows after her and tries to convince her to return to the shelter with him as it is not safe for her on the surface. Their struggle attracts some police officers who order Eddie to put his hands in the air. Instead, he turns into Venom to face the officers. With his attention off Anne, the woman runs to a nearby taxi cab and tells the driver to head for the east side of the city. When Venom tries to stop her, the police officers open fire, earning his attention again. However, Brock pauses when he overhears a police bulleting about the Sin-Eater being sighted in Times Square. Fearing for the safety of the people gathered there, Venom swings off to confront the murderer. At Times Square, the police have the area surrounded. However, Sin-Eater is unphased from his improvised sniper's nest. When a police sniper tries to take a shot at him, he sets off an explosive that Steve rigged on that rooftop. Meanwhile, Anne Weying arrives home. Before the doorman can tell her about the woman claiming to be her sister, she is confronted by two plainclothes police officers who want to put her into protective custody. However, she refuses to go until she can change into some clothes as she has been running around in a hospital gown ever since Venom abducted her from the hospital.
When they enter Anne's apartment, the two officers are shot dead by the woman waiting at the front door. Weying wants to know what this mystery woman wants. She explains that she is taking Anne hostage as she wants to get revenge against Venom. Explaining that Eddie Brock did something horrible to her daughter Kristin recently, and she intends to settle the score.[3] While in Times Square, Venom ambushes who he thinks is Sin-Eater but discover that it is only a dummy rigged with a recorded message, leaving the symbiote to wonder where the Sin-Eater went. At that same moment, Engleschwert arrives outside of the New York Stock Exchange.
Recurring Characters
Venom, Anne Weying, Sin-Eater, Eamon Reilly
Continuity Notes
That other person was Emil Gregg. He claimed to be the Sin-Eater in the past as seen in Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #107-110, until Spider-Man caught the real killer, Stan Carter. One of the officers on the scene here states that Gregg was "blown away" as seen last issue. Although this story implies that Gregg was killed, he survived getting shot. He will ultimately die of a drug overdose sometime later as seen in AXIS: Carnage #2.
Chief Reilly states that Engleschwert fought in the Gulf War. This should be considered a topical reference per the Sliding Timescale of Earth-616.
Venom met Kristin in Venom Carnage Unleashed #1-4. That encounter ended with Eddie pushing Kristin's boyfriend Clive Gooch over the railing of a staircase, crippling him. Upset over Brock's actions, Kristin contacted her mother -- a hit-woman -- to get revenge.
Martial Lawyers
Luis Alvarez, aka the Tarantula, has recently been broken out of prison by the Jury. However, instead of freeing the mercenary, Alvarez finds himself put before a brand new trial, put on by the Jury. As the Tarantula protests, Gavel -- the Jury's judge -- orders Max Taylor to get his client under control as everything he says after this point is going to be a matter of court records. Watching Gavel on the massive projection screen, Wysper -- the Jury's newest member -- asks her teammates about the mysterious judge. However, they are just as uncertain about his identity as she is. Soon the trial begins, the Gavel explaining to those gathered that Luis was serving time as a prisoner of the border war between Boca Del Dios and his native country of Delvadia. Although he was sentenced to life in prison, Gavel and the rest of the Jury feel that the punishment for his crimes was too lenient. As such, they have arranged a new trial with a jury consisting of those who witness his crimes, his victims, and their loved ones.
That's when Max Taylor introduces himself as the Tarantula's lawyer and injects him with a variant of the serum that gave him his enhanced strength and agility. Taylor explains that they want the Tarantula to be alert and cognizant after being denied regular injections for so long. With the introductions out of the way, Gavel orders the trial to begin. Representing the prosecution is Olivia Lentz. She calls her first witness Padre Enrique Lopez, who testifies against the Tarantula. He explains how the Tarantula murdered Armando Ruiz, a refugee from Delvadia who sought to start a new life in New York City.[1] He then recounts how the Tarantula later returned to New York City and held the Padre hostage in an attempt to get revenge against Spider-Man.[2] During cross-examination, Max asks he Padre if he forgives the Tarantula for his crimes. As a religious man of strong conviction, the Padre can do nothing else but forgive Alvarez. Upon hearing this, Max calls for the next witness.
The next witness is Mike Dugan, a former New York City police officer. His career was cut short when the Tarantula attacked him while he was defending Dalvadian refugees. Stabbed by the Tarantula's poison-tipped toe spikes, he had an allergic reaction to them and has been paralyzed from the neck down ever since. On cross-examination, Max only asks one question: Was there any way his client would have known about Mike's allergy? When Mike admits that there was no way Luis could have known, Taylor finishes his questioning. This is followed by testimony from Hector Delgado. Hector explains how he was a passenger on a plane that the Tarantula had hijacked. He is certain that the mercenary would have killed them all had it not been for the timely intervention of the counter-terrorist known as Solo.[3] In defense of his client, Max has Delgado confirm that he and the other passengers on board of the plane were all Delvadian refugees and were considered to be criminals in their home country. Watching from the sidelines, Bomblast is furious at how the trial is going, vowing to kill someone if Max manages to successfully defend the Tarantula. When Wysper asks Bomburst for clarification on who he would kill -- Max or the Tarantula -- he doesn't give her an answer.
It's then that Olivia Lentz calls her next witness, who is testifying via live video link. In order to protect their identity, Lentz has the image of the witness distorted. This man explains how he was present when Luis Alvarez was first given the injection that gave him his power. He explains that Luis then killed the serum's inventor, Doctor Mendoza, solely to test out his new powers.[4] When it is Max's turn to question the witness, he has the man confirm that the nation of Delvadia considers the Tarantula to be a national hero, then rests his case. With all the witnesses heard from, Gavel then calls for the court to enter recess until a verdict can be reached. It's then that Sentry orders Wysper to report to the armory on the double. There, Wysper is stripped of her armor and told that she is being kicked off the Jury due to her sloppy performance when they broke the Tarantula out of prison, as well as disobeying orders. Although Jenny points out that if she had followed orders, Sentry would be dead, this does little to sway the Jury's leader. That's when it is announced a verdict has been reached.
When everyone returns to the courtroom, the Tarantula is found guilty of his crimes. As such, Gavel sentences the Tarantula to death. Although the mercenary refuses to acknowledge the court and vows to kill everyone, he is dragged to a gas chamber. However, instead of being gassed to death, the Jury is shocked to discover that the Tarantula managed to escape somehow. Sentry orders Max and Olivia to get the civilians to safety while his team searches for the mercenary. Below the execution chamber, the Tarantula finds himself in a secret room. There he is contacted by Gavel turns the Tarantula's attention to replicas of his poison-tipped boots. The judge explains that this entire display was not to put him on trial, but another. At that same moment, Jenny runs to the armory to look for something to defend herself against the Tarantula. There, she discovers that the armor has been locked up tight, the only weapons that are out in the open are the sonic gauntlets to her Wysper armor. She then goes looking around the facility for the Tarantula. When she finds him, she is about to go back and warn Sentry and the others when she is stopped by Firearm. He convinces her that if they don't try and stop the Tarantula now, he may escape. However, when Jenny goes to face the Tarantula, she realizes that she is doing so alone as Firearm blocks the exit. He then tells the Tarantula that if he kills Jenny, he will be allowed to go free. Hearing this, the Tarantula leaps at Jenny, with his poison-tipped boots poised to impale her through the chest if she doesn't act quickly.
Recurring Characters
The Jury (Sentry, Wysper, Firearm, Ramshot, Bomblast), Max Taylor, Olivia Lentz, Gavel, Enrique Lopez, Tarantula
Continuity Notes
Armando Ruiz was murdered by the Tarantula in The Spectacular Spider-Man #137.
The Tarantula attempted to get revenge against Spider-Man in Amazing Spider-Man #341.
Solo clashed with the Tarantula in Marvel Comics Presents #124.
The Tarantula got his powers and killed Doctor Mendoza in Web of Spider-Man #36.
