Venom (vol. 2) #29 — Nick Peron

Oct 14

Oct 14 Venom (vol. 2) #29

Drowning in a Nightmare

The Maritime Motel in Philadelphia is a flaming ruin after it was attacked by the U-Foes who had come to destroy Katy Kiernan’s research into Project Rainbow. Left for dead, Agent Venom was only playing possum in order to stop the U-Foes from killing everyone in sight. As police arrive on the scene, he pulls himself back together so he can continue his search.

Meanwhile, at a warehouse on the pier, Vector is preparing to test one of the latest devices he found in a treasure trove of bizarre technology on Kiernan. She warns him that if the device gives her super-powers he’s going to regret kidnapping her. However, Vector has already tested the device on others and they have all died, so he’s not concerned. Before he performs this latest test he asks one of his hired thugs to go to nearby Temple University and kidnap some students for further experimentation. He then orders his technicians to activate the latest device, a strange sphere, to see what it can do. When it starts displaying Katy’s memories, Vector realizes that it can read minds and wonders what would happen if a subject is over exposed to the energies the machine puts out.

By this time, Flash Thompson is trying to follow a lead on where Katy Kiernan was taken. This has brought him to one of her favorite hang outs, the Mütter Museum, which contains a massive collection of medical oddities. Going into a back room he finds the man he is looking for, a researched named Jimmy Z. Johnson. He asks Johnson for information about Project Rainbow. Jimmy is surprised because this is the second time someone has come to him for information in days. He decides to indulge Flash’s request and tells him about the brief disappearance of the USS Eldridge in 1943. Official accounts deny the fact that the ship was briefly teleported someplace else and not long after this, Project Rainbow was shut down. Despite that, the work begun in the project continues by a secret government organization to develop new technologies on the fringe of known science. He is certain that the recent disappearance of people at the Gallery Mall fell victim of the same technology and suspects this technology must be kept in a warehouse somewhere in Philadelphia.

With this information, Agent Venom searches the city, bringing him to the docks. There, he is captured by drone cameras alerting the U-Foes to his presence. Vector teleports Venom into the warehouse thinking they can overpower him by sheer numbers. However, this time, Agent Venom is prepared. When X-Ray tries to attack, Venom pulls out Valkyrie’s sword and tosses the Asgardian weapon through his foe. The sword works as a beacon that allows Valkyrie to teleport into the warehouse on her winged horse Aragorn. The battle is off to an awkward start when Venom refers to Val as his girlfriend.

Although the pair try their best to defeat the U-Foes and free their prisoners, both are knocked back by a powerful blast from Vector’s telekinetic power. Flash can’t let the survivors to be used as victims and as he begins to lose his temper, the Venom symbiote begins taking control….