Venom (vol. 2) #27.1
The Evil Inside Us All…
Agent Venom has been dispatched to break up a gang of demon worshiping cultists known as the Harkspur Brood. Although he is tasked to get answers with them, his repulsion over what these inbred freaks do causes him to rough them up more than he was supposed to.
He later returns to the Raft prison to continue questioning Daimon Hellstrom, aka the Son of Satan. He confirms that he was able to find the Harkspur Brood, but they had no information about the coming Descent. Daimon admits that not ever sect of the DOA will have information but tells Flash to be satisfied that he has taken some dangerous criminals.[1] Daimon’s grin angers Flash who tells him to stop treating this like a game, but the Son of Satan is unmoved by Venom’s temper tantrum. That’s when guards come in and tell Flash to get away from the cell. As he is escorted out of the room, Hellstrom sarcastically hopes his temper isn’t because of problems at home.
At that moment, in Upstate New York, Rosie Thompson has admitted herself to Rose Manner, a mental health facility. She has come to get a handle on stress and anxiety. Accompanying her is her son Flash, and daughter Jesse. Flash doesn’t think his mother has come here to get help, but to lose herself and hide from him. Joining them on this trip is Flash’s friend Peter Parker, who is a lot more optimistic about Rosie Thompson’s recovery than he is.[2] That’s when Peter tells Flash that an old classmate of their, AJ Patton is back in town and wants to see Flash if he wanted to get in touch.
Returning to Manhattan, Thompson thinks about how his mother saw Venom at its worse and how this could haunt her dreams for years to come. This gets him thinking about AJ Patton, whose dreams he figures were haunted by memories of Flash Thompson. He thinks back to his high school days. AJ was one of the only openly gay kids in their class, which didn’t bother Flash back then because he wasn’t really sure what homosexuality was. Still, because he was angry at the world he used to bully Patton. The last time he did he went a too far and broke Patton’s arm and AJ ended up graduating high school with his arm in a sling.
Flash decides to call AJ and is invited over. AJ apologizes for the bumpy trip up the stairs or that he is fully unpacked yet. Flash admits that he is surprised that AJ didn’t roll him out into the street after the way he treated Patton in high school. AJ tells him it is water under the bridge and introduces Flash to his husband, Dan. When AJ sends Dan to get a drink, Flash once again is surprised that Patton asked to speak with him. AJ assures Flash that he’s over the past and that things are going well for him and he’s happy now. Flash briefly tells AJ what he has been up to recently before AJ is called into the kitchen by Dan.[3] Dan can’t understand why AJ has brought Flash into their home, calling him a monster for how he tormented his husband in high school. AJ however, doesn’t see Flash as a monster, but someone to pity because he has washed out in life. Although they are whispering, Flash can still hears every word.
That night, Flash wakes up on his couch and uses his Starktech phone to call for the Venom symbiote. Disguising himself as nurse, Flash pays a visit to the one member of the Harkspur Brood that he put in the infirmary at the North Central Correctional Institute in Massachusetts. The Hell-Mark on his chest glowing in the dark, Venom torments the redneck, telling him that he will come and beat him every night until he talks. On his way back to New York, Venom stops at Rose House to torment his mother.
Unaware of what he did the night before, Flash meets up with Peter Parker who admits that Thompson looks like hell. Flash tells Peter about his meeting with AJ the day before and he wants to let Peter know that he is his best-friend and that he is proud of him for his accomplishments.[4] Still, Flash wonders if his bullying in high school was that bad since Peter turned out okay. Peter admits that Flash was the worst in high school and he often thought about pretending to be sick so he didn’t have to go to school. He also avoided bathrooms and ate lunch alone in classrooms in order to avoid encounters with Thompson. However, in the end, after high school he learned to move on.
Hearing this, Flash thinks that after everything he has been through recently that maybe it’s time for him to move on as well,[5] telling Peter that he has decided to leave New York City for good and he’s never coming back.
Recurring Characters
Agent Venom, Son of Satan, Peter Parker, Rosie Thompson, Jesse Thompson, Harkspur Brood
Continuity Notes
The Descent is a coming event that will see one of the Hell-Lords become absolute evil and become the one true Devil. Each Hell-Lord is in the process of selecting heirs to help rule the domains after the Descent. Venom was one of the heir chosen by Mephisto. For more on this see Venom (vol. 2) #13-14, 23-25.
The reason why Rosie is admitted herself to this facility is because on top of dealing with her husband’s death, she was recently terrorized by the Savage Six. Harrison Thompson died in Venom (vol. 2) #7, and the Savage Six terrorized her in issue #17-21.
Flash mentions how he lost his legs serving in the military. Flash suffered this injury in Amazing Spider-Man #574.
Flash is referring to the fact that Peter, at the time of this story, had just recently started working at Horizon Labs in Amazing Spider-Man #648.
Flash mentions his recent break-up with Betty. The pair have dated on-and-off for years dating back to Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #90. They more recently got back together in Amazing Spider-Man #648, ultimately Flash broke up with her in Venom (vol. 2) #12 because he feared that she would continue to get hurt the long he operated as Agent Venom. Betty later learned that Flash was secret Agent Venom and in the aftermath of this discovery told him that she never wanted to see him again. See Venom (vol. 2) #17-21.
