Road Trip Part One

Flash Thompson was in the middle of giving his father’s eulogy when he notices that Jack O’Lantern had joined the mourners. This angered Flash, but nobody noticed. Now, as Harrison Thompson’s body is lowered into his grave, Flash glares at Jack who is lurking behind the priest giving his final prayer.

After the funeral, Flash politely declines Peter Parker and Mary Jane’s offer to get lunch together. That’s when he and Betty are approached by Jack. Who tells Betty that he and Flash served in the military together and that Thompson is also his sponsor for Alcoholics Anonymous. A lie that Jack easily sells with his horribly scarred face. When Jack spins a story about having a hard time and needs his “sponsor” for assistance, Flash declines saying its a bad time. However, Betty — unaware of what’s really going on — tells Flash to go ahead, saying she’ll help his mother and sister get home.

Blindfolding Flash, Jack takes him to the Crime-Master’s headquarters.[1] When they arrive in Crime-Master’s office, the mobster offers his condolences to Flash, this is received with hostile silence. Crime-Master explains that he has brought Eugene here because he needs Agent Venom for something. He also makes it very clear that he he is going to call on Flash for the foreseeable future, threatening to harm his loved ones if he ever refuses. He tells Flash that he needs him to go to collect something in Las Vegas, saying the alien symbiote will know what they’re looking for when he gets there. Since Flash is obviously angry, Crime-Master sends him on his way. The whole time, Flash had been contemplating killing Crime-Master then and there, deciding against it because there are no guarentees he’d survive and fears that Jack would go after Betty and his family soon after killing him. However, he vows that he will not rest until he kills every last one of them.

The next day, Flash arrives at the headquarters of Project Rebirth, which has just finished repairs following Spider-Island.[2] Aaron MacKenzie shows Flash around the new facilities and the pair talk about how tempting it is to talk to their loved ones about the things they do. Flash is glad that his operations are a secret because he’s not sure how he could explain to Betty how he recently fought Captain America. He only wishes that he could have told Cap how he inspired Flash to join the military. Aaron tells him that he’s going to get the chance as Captain America is just arriving at the facility.

General Dodge and his dog Samson are there to greet Captain America when he arrives. However, this isn’t a routine visit as Cap has come to shut down Project Rebirth and hopes that the General will give his full cooperation. Watching this through the security monitors, Aaron can’t believe that Captain America has a nerve to shut them down after they helped prevent the spider-plague from spreading outside of New York City. That’s when he notices that Flash had left the room while he wasn’t looking. At that same moment, Captain America is being escorted to the lab where the Venom symbiote is being held. He tells Dodge that the alien creature is too dangerous to be used by the military and explains that the Avengers have developed a containment unit for the creature. That’s when Aaron MacKenzie informs Captain America that he just wiped out all of the confidential data about the project — including Agent Venom’s true identity — and that their operative just fled the facility wearing the alien symbiote.

Racing down the side the snow covered mountains around Project Rebirth, Flash justifies his taking of the Venom symbiote, as he needs it to deal with Crime-Master once and for all, protect Betty and his family, and then he’ll return it. However, Captain America tracks down Agent Venom and refuses to let him leave without the symbiote. However, Flash refuses to surrender since there are lives on the line. Cap tries to convince Flash that he can help, but he refuses to give up fighting even though this means going AWOL and tarnishing his career. He explains to Cap that he will risk everything to save his family and hits the Star-Spangled Avenger with a knock out punch. This sends Cap falling over the edge of a cliff, prompting Agent Venom to go out of his way to save his life, before fleeing the scene.

When Captain America returns to Project Rebirth’s headquarters he is told learns that Agent Venom returned just long enough to steal Captain America’s motorcycle to escape the vicinity.

Recurring Characters

Agent Venom, Betty Brant, Aaron MacKenzie, Brad Dodge, Captain America, Crime-Master, Jack O’Lantern, Death Adder, Jesse Thompson, Rosie Thompson, Peter Parker, Mary Jane Watson

Continuity Notes

1. Jack O’Lantern mentions how he failed to protect the Antarctic Vibranium that the Crime-Master smuggled into New York. See Venom (vol. 2) #4.

2. For more on Spider-Island see Amazing Spider-Man #666-673 and Venom (vol. 2) #6-8.