A Fire in the Brain

Doctor Thaddeus Paine has been called to Bellview Hospital to examine their latest patient, an incoherent John Doe that was found naked in an alley by the NYPD. As he is escorted to John Doe's cell, Paine is told how the man has been rambling about alien creatures that are eating people's brains. After getting a rundown of the man's current health, the initial diagnosis is that this man is suffering from acute dementia. When they look into the cell, Eddie Brock insists that he is not crazy and tells them to let him out. When they ignore his demands, Brock begins thrashing around his cell, trying to convince them that the alien is a constant threat to innocent people due to its dietary needs and that he can see its thoughts.

In his mind, Eddie Brock can see the symbiote traveling through the sewers looking for its next meal. It eventually comes up through the plumbing into an apartment where has man is beating on a prostitute. The beating is interrupted by the symbiote which quickly envelops the man and begins eating his brains in full view of the horrified prostitute. Her screams of terror alert her pimp and his armed men. When they see the alien monster eating the man they try to kill it. Unfortunately, their bullets and weapons have no effect on the creature and it quickly kills and feasts upon them as well. Seeing all of this, Eddie pleads to the doctors to let him out, telling them that he is the only one who is able to control the alien symbiote. Watching all of this, Doctor Paine sees that this patient will be his most interesting case since his time examining Morbius the Living Vampire.[1] Finishing the necessary paperwork, Doctor Paine has Eddie Brock transferred to the Innsmouth Hills Sanitarium in Long Island.

Brock is quiet on the transport there, but when the staff tries to move him into the facility, Eddie tries to break free. Unfortunately, his escape attempt is quickly stopped when one of the staff incapacitates him with a taser. Since his arrival, Eddie Brock has had problems with discipline and making escape attempts. In response, the facility has him completely restrained. Brought to Doctor Paine, Thaddeus decides to take a more personal interest in this patient. He then subjects Eddie Brock to a series of painful tests and eventually learns that his brain has an anomaly, it is completely depleted of a neurotransmitter known as Phenethylamine. However, further examination finds nothing physically wrong with his patient that can account for the depletion. He begins treating Eddie with amino acids that will eventually correct the imbalance, but further investigation only finds a strange and unidentified protein in his bloodstream. He does learn that these proteins are alien in origin and are of great medical value and become determined of coming into possession with its source. Now believing that "John Doe's" story to be true, Paine has Eddie brought in for a hypnotherapy session. Putting Brock into a hypnotic trance, he tries to get the patient to mentally reach out to his symbiotic other and convince it to return to him.

Eddie can sense the creature, which is stalking a taxi driver who is in an altercation with a cyclist that he has struck. The exchange goes from heated to potentially violent when the cyclist pulls a knife, prompting the taxi driver to pull out a shotgun he has inside his vehicle. That's when the symbiote attacks, and is hit point-blank with a shotgun blast. However, this doesn't kill the creature, only causes it to split into separate segments that quickly kill and feed upon the two men. By this point, the taxi driver's fare -- a belligerent lawyer -- finally gets off his cell phone long enough to notice that they still aren't moving. When he comes out and demands to know what is going on, he becomes yet another victim of the symbiote. Seeing all this, Eddie learns that the symbiote has been consuming the brains of others, but is not getting much satisfaction from his kills as these brains are missing the unique brain chemistry found in Eddie Brock's mind. After this session, Eddie Brock is taken back to his cell. Along the way, he manages to overpower the nurses and break free from his bonds. His escape is observed by Doctor Paine, who has actually allowed this escape to as it will bring his ultimate goals to fruition.

Recurring Characters

Eddie Brock, Dr. Thaddeus Paine

Continuity Notes

1. Paine examined Morbius in Morbius: The Living Vampire #3-4.