Deadly Dealings

Venom's battle with Mace is interrupted by the Sunrise Society who has come to recover the rogue cyborg. Because his friend Beck Underwood was injured by their ambush, Venom joins sides with Mace to take this army of cyborgs down. Although these cyborgs can turn invisible like Mace, the cyborg removes his sunglasses allowing him to see in the infrared spectrum and view. Although Mace was hired to protect the squatters that make this alley their home, one of them -- a man named Allan -- doesn't want Mace's help. However, Allan begins to change his tune when Mace saves him from one of the Sunrise cyborgs. Venom tries his best to hold his own against the other cyborgs. After tossing one cyborg into a nearby water tower, the Sunrise cyborg's leaders orders Venom destroyed.

Meanwhile, in the underground city that is under Venom's protection, Sam Felix and his friends are beginning to panic. They are worried about what might happen if Venom learns that they have been robbing the squatters on the surface. However, Sam figures they can get Venom worked up enough that there are no survivors left to question. Back on the surface, Mace is able to hold his own, even when the Sunrise Society cyborgs disarm him. While not far away, Venom is tired of being kept from saving Beck and decides he needs a distraction. He sends his symbiote's tendrils under the trash and uses them to move Beck's body to make it look like she is stirring. He then shields Beck with his symbiote until he can get close enough to protect Beck and fight the cyborgs. That's when Mace spots one of the cyborgs sneaking up behind Venom and warns him. This is the last of the cyborgs defeated, the leader of the Sunrise Society attacks Mace. Meanwhile, Beck tells Eddie that some undergrounders that were terrorizing the squatters on the surface. In response, the squatters hired Mace to protect them. It's then that Mace slays the leader of the cyborgs that have come to attack him. Venom and Beck are shocked when Mace removes the cyborg's mask revealing a man with an identical face to his. When Beck asks Mace if this is his twin, all he says this other man is "something like that".[1]

With the battle over, Venom decides to confront the undergrounders responsible for the thefts, promising Beck that he will only banish them. Meanwhile, Mace decides to travel further south, accepting a pair of sunglasses from Beck as a gift. Later, Sam and his allies are exiled from the underground. As they plan their next moves, they are ambushed by Venom, who has come to kill them despite the promise he made to Beck.

Recurring Characters

Venom, Mace, Sunrise Society, Beck Underwood, Sam Felix

Continuity Notes

1. Mace and his "twin" are actually clones of a man named Shigeru Ezaki, as explained in Marvel Comics Presents #160-163.