Shiver Part Five

In the motor pool at the Christmastown base, located in the Arctic Circle, the mystery man in the suit and tie that had come to kill the symbiote creature on the loose is seemingly dead. However, a group of small mechanical spiders is busy working on repairing the wound in his back. Once they are finished, the spiders then crawl into the suit’s empty eye sockets. Suddenly the suit springs to life and putting back on his sunglasses, prepares to resume his hunt.

Meanwhile, Patricia Robertson has just learned from the sole survivor of the Ararat facility everything he knows about the creature. Furious over what the scientists unleashed, Patricia demands to know how they can kill the monster. He tells her that they tried everything and couldn’t find a means to destroy it. The closest thing they were able to figure out was how to contain the symbiote. He explains that when the creature runs out of host bodies it goes into an inert state, which is why the brought it to the Arctic to begin with as there are very few host bodies available. Patricia points out that the monster still managed to escape, and the scientist admits that they underestimated it. After getting her anger under control, Patricia suggests they take one of the trucks from the motor pool and strand the monster on the base. The scientist is worried that the monster might hunt them down, but Patricia points out that it will hunt them regardless of what they do. When the scientist asks for a gun, Patricia refuses to hand one over to him, reminding him how the coward hid in a supply closet when the monster slaughtered everyone else at the Ararat Corporation facility.

That’s when they are rocked by an explosion and after a briefly blacking out, Patricia checks with the scientist and discovers that he is fine. Going to find the source of the explosion, Patricia is mortified to discover that the symbiote blew up the trucks in the motor pool. Although the simplest means of escape is gone, Patricia knows of one other way to get out. However, they are suddenly confronted by the suit who refuses to allow them to go anywhere. The suit explains that the monster will try to escape by using one of them as a host and has eliminated the only means of escape to stand it on the base. When the scientist tells her to kill the suit, she points out that one of her colleagues tried shooting him in the head and that didn’t kill him.[1] That’s when the suit warns her that the scientist is no longer himself. With its cover blown, the symbiote emerges and tries to ambush Patricia but she evades its initial blow.[2]

However, the creature quickly stops attacking and the suit explains that its current host is already dead. As the symbiote expells the carcass, the suit prepares to prevent it from taking possession of Patricia’s body. Thinking that the suit is going to try and kill her she tries to force his weaponized cell phone out of his hands. That’s when the symbiote snatches the weapon. The suit tries to tell her how to destroy the monster but the symbiote swallows him whole. Patricia tries to run, but the symbiote trips her up. However, instead of taking possession of her or killing her, the symbiote decides it is having too much fun and retreats. Suddenly, she hears the dogs screaming in their pen. Rushing to the kennel, she discovers that something ripped through the fence. That’s when the suit reveals reappears, still alive, and reports to his superiors that the symbiote has managed to escape. Somewhere not far away, Ivan — one of the Husky’s kept on the base — runs across the frozen tundra, acting as the newest host for the symbiote.

Recurring Characters

Patricia Robertson, the man in black

Continuity Notes

1. Jackson shot the suit in the head in Venom #3.

2. Although this symbiote resembles the Venom symbiote it is not it. It’s actually a clone as we’ll learn in Venom #11-14.