A Time to Kill, and a Time to Heal

Believing that he has finally eliminated the Sin-Eater, Venom makes his way back to the home of his ex-wife Anne Weying. As he arrives on the rooftop, Venom assumes the less threatening guise of Eddie Brock as his ex is easily upset by his other. As he takes the rooftop staircase into the building, Eddie is unaware that a hit-woman is waiting for him in Anne's apartment. This woman is the mother of a young musician named Kirstin who has sent her mother after Eddie after he crippled her boyfriend Clive Gooch.[1] As she waits for Eddie's eventual arrival she watches Trish Tilby's news coverage at the New York Stock Exchange where Venom had just finished his battle with Sin-Eater. Tilby interviews NYPD Chief Eamon Reilly, who tells her that even though Venom stopped the spree-killer, he insists that the vigilante needs to be brought to justice as well.

That's when Eddie comes knocking at the door, prompting the woman to open fire at him from the other side of the door. Checking on Brock, she assumes that he is dead and drags him into the apartment and covers him with a blanket. She decides to take a break before eliminating Anne, as she doesn't want to leave behind any witnesses. While under the sheet, the symbiote begins pulling the bullets out of Eddie's body. He wonders why the symbiote is bothering, considering that he deserves to die for what he did to Clive Gooch. However, he realizes that if the symbiote allows him to die, it will die as well. At this point, the hit-woman calls her daughter Kristin who is just returning to her apartment in the East Village with Clive. Upon hearing her mother's voice, Kristin dreads what her mother has done. Her mother insists that she is just cleaning things up, but Kristin begs her mother not to do anything until she can get there. While at the Stock Exchange, as officers begin cleaning up the scene, one of their number loads up the man thought to be the Sin-Eater's final hostage into a squad car to be driven to the hospital. While back at Anne's apartment, the symbiote continues to struggle to heal Eddie. The movements under the sheet draw the attention of the hit-woman who realizes that Eddie is still alive and fires some more bullets into his body. It's at this time that the authorities check the wreckage of the van where Sin-Eater seemingly perished. They discover that the driver is actually the SWAT team member that was taken hostage, realizing too late that the Sin-Eater is still alive. At that moment, Michael Engelschwert drops his disguise and forces the officer driving him to the hospital to change their destination.

Back at the Weying apartment, the hit-woman grabs a higher-powered weapon, just in case Venom is still alive. That's when Trish Tilby begins reporting that the Sin-Eater is still alive and escaped police custody. To make matters worse, the hitwoman's police scanner carries a report of the stolen squad car and notes that it is heading to the apartment. Realizing that things are getting out of control, the hit-woman decides to leave. However, she decides to kill Anne before departing. That's when Eddie tries to stop her, however, he takes more bullets. Weakened from the first attack, Eddie falls to the ground, leaving him vulnerable to the hit-woman. At that same moment, Sin-Eater uses stolen police credentials to confirm this is the apartment building where Anne Weying lives and is admitted into the building by the doorman. Concerned that the "officer" crashed his squad car into a nearby fire hydrant, the doorman goes to check on the vehicle and is horrified to see a bullet-riddled body inside. Upstairs, the hit-woman is about to kill Eddie, when his symbiote knocks her aside. Quick thinking it then bonds to Anne, turning her into She-Venom again. Flooded with homicidal tendencies, She-Venom then lunges at the hit-woman intent on killing her. Eddie tries to talk Anne out of killing the woman but is knocked aside. That's when Sin-Eater comes bursting in through the front door and opens fire on She-Venom. Meanwhile, downstairs, Kristin and Clive arrive in a taxi. Kristin then rushes into the building in the hopes of stopping her mother before she can kill Eddie Brock.

Upstairs, Sin-Eater is distracted by She-Venom that he leaves himself open to be shot in the back by the hit-woman. Although she unloads her entire clip into the psychopath, he is still standing. Still, she manages to grab his shotgun and is about to shoot Eddie, but the Venom symbiote separates from Anne in order to bond with him again. Venom is about to deal with her when Kristin bursts into the room. She tells her mother that she realized that she cannot allow Venom to be killed, wanting the violence to end. That's when Sin-Eater gets up and reveals that he is loaded with explosives and is ready to detonate them. Blaming herself for what has happened, Kristin charges at the spree-killer, pushing both herself and Sin-Eater out the window. Not wanting Kristin to die, Venom leaps out after them. Although he rescues them, Sin-Eater still intends to blow them all up. Venom breaks his hold from Kristin, and Sin-Eater falls. Instead of hitting the ground, he triggers the explosives, killing himself but nobody else. When Venom hands Kristin over to Clive, he thanks him for saving her life, but refuses to forgive him for what he has done. While upstairs, Kristin's mother is knocked out by Anne Weying. Soon, the authorities arrive on the scene, where Eamon Reilly tries to make sense of Venom and his actions. He is not the only one, as at a nearby rooftop, Venom curses himself, thinking he only brings pain and suffering to all those who get near him.

Recurring Characters

Venom, She-Venom, Sin-Eater, Kristin, Clive Gooch, Trish Tilby

Continuity Notes

1.  The incident with Kristin and Clive Gooch happened in Venom Carnage Unleashed #1-4.

Symbiote

After four hours in captivity and being subjective torture, Venom is awoken from his latest blackout when his body is injected with acid. He is being tortured by a man who wants to force a separation between Eddie Brock and his symbiote so he can claim the alien creature for himself. His captor gloats at how easy it was to capture Venom earlier that evening, staging a fake shooting in order to lure the vigilante into a trap. He then continues his torture of the symbiotic being, jolting him into unconsciousness with a powerful sonic blast.

It has now been seven hours, and Venom has been left alone for the time being. Venom wakes up again and begins struggling to get free from his bonds when suddenly his symbiote is set on fire. Realizing only subtle movements will prevent him from being immolated, Venom sends tendrils of his symbiote down to the floor. The tendrils then jabbed into a nearby wall-socket, causing an electrical jolt that short-circuits the bonds, freeing him. As he looks around, he is suddenly called to an upstairs room by his captor. Having taken a sample from he symbiote and used it on himself, the captor already feels his body beginning to change and wants to take the rest of the symbiote from Brock.

The two battle it out, but Venom knocks the man out of a window, sending him landing on a fence. Although he is impaled on the posts, the man pulls himself off and already feels his body beginning to heal. When Venom comes to resume their fight, he knocks the vigilante out with a blast from his sonic blaster. He then takes Brock back to his lab for the final transfer. Although Venom is unconscious again, the man explains that he was a chemical engineer that used to work for SHIELD. Exposed to experimental nerve gas, his life has been drastically shortened. However, during his time with SHIELD, he read their files about Venom's symbiote and believe that it will cure him of his condition, but also grant him with immortality.

Venom tries to explain that separating him from his symbiote is impossible because the two are permanently bonded. Ignoring these warnings, the ex-SHIELD scientist activates his device. It seems to work, transferring the symbiote. However, his mind is flooded by the symbiote's mass as well as the horrific memories that it contains in its mind. The entire process is far too much for the chemical engineer's body, that his head explodes, killing him. With his symbiote returning to him, Venom reiterates his warning, that he and his symbiote have a unique bond that cannot simply be transferred to someone else. Breaking free from his bonds, Venom is disgusted by the mess but takes solace in the fact that he doesn't have to worry about cleaning it up.

Recurring Characters

Venom