Night of the Symbiote

Flash Thompson reports to his job as assistant gym coach at West Philadelphia High School. There he can feel all the eyes looking at the bruises on his face and wonders what they are all thinking. He passes by one of his students, Andi Benton, who also lives in his building. She saw him the night before after his battle with Toxin and a man infected with alien Symbiote-Slayers. He passes by her silently without talking about the night before.

That’s when he sees Eddie Brock standing at the opposite end of the hall. Wheeling up to Eddie, Flash demands to know what he is doing at the school. Brock explains it was easy to find him since he figured out who Flash really was when he was working for Crime-Master, and that he used to be a reporter.[1] He insists that he and Thompson are going to leave and finish the fight they started. Flash refuses to comply, and calls Eddie’s bluff by pointing out he won’t unleash Toxin around the innocent students that are all around them. He then begins needling about Brock’s dependency on the Toxin symbiote. Eddie is about to lose his temper when he suddenly smells the oil, blood, rot, and chemicals that came off the man that was infected with the Symbiote-Slayers.

That’s when the three new hosts, all homeless men possessed by the Symbiote-Slayers, enter the school. The school security guards try to stop them, but they are easily incapacitated and the infected humans continue their hunt for Venom and Toxin. That’s when one of the school officials hits the alarm, prompting the Symbiote-Slayers to start threatening the people around them in an effort to draw their targets out of hiding. Flash tells Brock to stay out of his way while he gets his students to safety in one of the classrooms. The last one in is Andi, who worries for Flash’s safety, but he assures her that nothing will happen to him and he will make sure she stays safe.

With everyone out of sight, both Eddie and Flash agree to work together to end the current threat before they settle their own differences. They then change into Agent Venom and Toxin respectively and head down the hall to confront the Symbiote-Slayers. While Toxin goes for a full-frontal attack, Venom uses stealth and subterfuge by sending tendrils of his symbiote through the ventilation system to ambush the invaders. Soon the creatures begin swarming around Toxin and for a moment, Agent Venom debates letting them kill each other. However, he decides against it, and comes up from the floor to save him. By this time, Venom has allowed his symbiote to take on its natural form and attacks with. Working together in tandem, the two symbiote manage to slaughter the Symbiote-Slayers.[2]

With the battle over, Toxin is rearing to resume his conflict with Venom. However, Flash insists that he is not a threat to anyone and has his symbiote under control. To demonstrate this he makes the alien creature resume his Agent Venom form. He also tells Brock that fundamental difference between the two of them is that when Brock wore the Venom symbiote is that Eddie turned his back on everyone, giving him no reason to keep the alien creature at bay.[3] Flash, on the other hand, is trying to build a life for himself.

This convinces Eddie that Flash has control over the Venom symbiote, for now. Brock decides to leave him alone but promises to keep an eye on him. The pair agree that if Flash ever loses control of the Venom symbiote then Toxin will have to be the one to kill him. Satisfied with their agreement, Eddie Brock reverts back to human form and leaves, telling Flash that he’ll be there when it happens, certain that it will only be a matter of time. He hopes that Flash is ready for what happens next.

Soon the school ends its lock down and when exiting the school, Flash is questioned by the media. He confirms that she was inside and gives a vague account of what happened, unaware that Andi is watching him with growing suspicion. He talks about how Toxin saved the school and admits that he was glad that there was something out there looking out for their well being. As Flash gives this report, Toxin retreats back into the shadows, while elsewhere in the city one of the surviving Symbiote-Slayers skitters around town looking for a suitable host.

Recurring Characters

Agent Venom, Toxin, Andi Benton

Continuity Notes

1. Brock was forcibly bonded to the Toxin symbiote and worked with Crime-Master from Venom (vol. 2) #17-20. As explained in Amazing Spider-Man #300, Brock used to be a reporter for the Daily Globe until his identification of the spree-shooter known as Sin-Eater proved to be incorrect when Spider-Man caught the real Sin-Eater. For more on that see Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #107-110.

2. Toxin refers to Venom as his “grandfather” here. The relationship between Toxin and Venom is… complicated. Toxin is a symbiote that was spawned by the Carnage symbiote in Venom vs. Carnage #1-4. Brock (when he was bonded to the Venom symbiote) considered Toxin it’s grandson and sought to kill it.. which is not entirely accurate. See my write up about the symbiote lineage.

3. In case you didn’t know, Eddie Brock previously wore wore the Venom symbiote. He wore it from Amazing Spider-Man #298 until he auctioned it off in Marvel Knights: Spider-Man #7. It eventually ended up bonded to Flash much later in Amazing Spider-Man #654.