Fatal Flaws

While battling the cyborg mercenary known as Mace, Venom is stopped by his friend Beck Underwood, who insists that Eddie listen to her. However, while Eddie's guard is down, Mace recovers from his last attack and tries to shoot his unprotected head. Beck sees this and warns Eddie just in time. With his symbiote fully protecting his body, Venom faces off against Mace again. However, the firefight puts the squatters who hired him to protect them. This angers Alan, one of the few squatters who were against hiring Mace as their defender. Since Mace attacked his undergrounders, Venom is looking to stop him, unaware that some of his people were responsible for terrorizing the squatters. When Mace turns invisible, Venom shows that he can do the same thing, willing his symbiote to blend in with its surroundings. However, Venom is unaware that Mace can see in the infrared spectrum and can still see Venom thanks to his heat signature.

While the two fight it out, Beck becomes frustrated that the pair are mindlessly fighting each other when there are innocents around that can be hurt. Alan, on the other hand, hopes that both Venom and Mace kill each other as he is sick of super-powered individuals terrorizing his people. Meanwhile, Venom begins filling the alley with tendrils from his symbiote in the hopes of finding Mace. Struggling to get free, Mace is unable to pull free until he stabs Venom in the chest with one of the weapons he is named after. While Venom is pulling the weapon out of his chest, Mace retreats to recover his gun. Despite the fact that Mace's weapon's burns Venom's symbiote, he refuses to stand down.[1] However, the pain becomes too intense and Venom tries to pull back and ends up in a dead-end alley. Mace tells Venom that their fight is not personal, explaining that he is just earning his keep. In order to protect himself, Venom wills his symbiote to create shields to try and protect himself from the laser blasts. Despite his best efforts, Venom is still faltering under the constant bombardment. Before Mace can execute Venom, Beck pleads for him to stop. When he fails to do so, Beck runs off instead of trying to find someone else to help.

That's when the members of the Sunrise Society open fire, with Beck getting caught in the blast. Their leader tells Mace that they have come to collect him. Seeing that Beck got hurt, Venom joins Mace in facing off against this army of cyborgs.

Recurring Characters

Venom, Mace, Sunrise Society, Beck Underwood

Continuity Notes

1. Venom compares Mace's weapon to the powers of Pyre who Venom fought in Venom Funeral Pyre #1-3.