"Man, we need to stop hitting O'Malley's til three in the morning, bro," Stiletti said, chasing three Tylenol with hot espresso.

"Yer problem is you don't know how to fight the effects of alcohol. I've told you a hundred time how to handle that crap," Bennett said, reading a file.

“Maybe if we quit talking about work there we wouldn't drink so much and as a result, I wouldn't need your damn advice for how to --"

"Detectives? The Code Blue personnel that you requested are here?"

"Oh yeah?" Stiletti secured his collar button and tightened his tie.

"Officer..." Bennett said.

"Kripke, sir."

"Right. Kripke, I haven't had a chance to tell Lieutenant Gainey that the Code Blue boys were called in. He's gonna want to know. If you wouldn’t mind informing him, we'll handle Code Blue."

"Sure," Officer Kripke said, straightening and heading for the lieutenant's office.

Both detectives watched as the police officer entered the lieutenant’s office. The shouting began immediately. Both could see the officer's face turn red under the onslaught of expletives. Bennett and Stilleti headed for the front desk for their meeting with Code Blue. Even out of sight they heard the LT bellowing.

"Report to evidence lock up now, Kripke, not later! Where the hell are Bennett and Stilleti?"

"Well, he's been informed anyway," Stilleti mumbled to his partner.

"Rough ride for the rookie though," Bennett said.

"Kid's gotta learn the ropes at some point in his career. Am I right?"

"Those our people up ahead?"

Three members of Code Blue waited for them. The most eye-catching was the largest woman either had ever seen in person. Two males stood next to her, one with hair right out of a heavy metal band. Special rules for a special team, Bennett thought. Both the giantess and metal-head carried large weapon cases. The third man wore a massive tank on his back that had hoses running from it that connected to a uniquely shaped discharging device that could only be some sort next generation flame thrower.

"You Bennett and Stilleti?" long-hair said.

"That's us. You're obviously Code Blue," Bennett said.

"I'm Mad Dog Rassitano, this dainty princess is Rigger Ruiz and the pyro here is Fireworks Feilstein."

"Cute nick names," Stilleti said.

"Gimmie a sec and I'll have one for you, tiny," Ruiz said and winked.

"Meet an’ greet is over. Let's get to business. Follow me," Bennett said and headed to an empty conference room.

Brock's apartment was certainly crawling with CSU by now. Conceivably, Jen's was too. Hiding in either place was out. The hospital was a waste of time. Brock was certain that there was one place for his spawn to make his next move. The only other people that Brock Edwards was remotely involved with were working at the City Crier.

Venom hung upside down a block away from the Crier. He had planned on trying to go to work for a few minutes to try and find out what happened to Jen. He wasn't prepared for the police showing up last night. Certainly not as fast as they had. He wanted to check on Jen's life signs. Maybe take her to the hospital. The cops had taken care of that chore. Venom followed the ambulance on web-line to Belleview but entry to the medical center was impossible. The cops had invaded Brock Edward’s apartment. If they found trace from either symbiote, in addition to that of Eddie Brock, then any fool could conclude who really lived there.

There would be an APB put out for Brock. No clothes that the symbiote could form would be enough to fool the throngs of New York’s finest that circulated the hospital entrances and exits. The idea of appearing as a severely bandaged patient wandering the halls wasn't going to work either. How could he covertly find out what room Jen was in looking like that? Some doctor might try to treat him or a cop could question him and then more people would be hurt.

No. There's been enough of that.

Brock had the symbiote now. He was in control of the alien again. He would choose who got hurt from now on. There were three squad cars parked in front of the Crier. No chance of getting information there either. They were there for Jen or to find out where Brock Edwards was. What a fool name, Brock thought. I should have fought that moron agent Bradley when he forced it on me. Regardless, once I'm through here I'll have to get another identity.

The symbiote rippled across Brock's body in disapproval. It was too early for the creature of shadows to be running around. It didn't get tired but it did feel discomfort. The temperature was going to hit a hundred degrees today. No clouds dotted the sky and there were precious few shadows for Venom to hide in. Brock was concerned about concealment but the alien wanted to insure its survival. While they were in the open, it was thirty stories up and under a roof ledge in deep shadow. Brock wasn't worried.

Discomfort or not, Venom was going to web himself in place right where he was, in perfect view of the bait in the City Crier.

"Is all that gear really necessary?" Stilleti asked motioning to Fielstein's flame thrower.

"Did you call in saying that Venom was on the rampage?" Rassitano said.

"Yeah."

"Did you bother to read the file at all?" Ruiz said.

"This thing can't be stopped by bullets, it pours through nets and can separate from its host to escape. It grows tentacles that can rip a grown man apart into little bits of confetti before you can draw your gun. With its host it can throw your squad car right down your throat, detective.

“So, yes, in your precinct of stone and glass I want this gear with my team. The flame thrower stays and so does the sonic emitter." Rassitano motioned with his chin at Ruiz who was pulling a rifle out of its foam padded case that looked like it was right out of a Star Wars movie.

"Fire and sonics," Bennett said.

"You can read, outstanding. Can we get started now?" Fielstein said wiping the sweat off his moustache covered upper lip. "This heat is killing me."

"We just got the report from CSU that confirms the unsub* is in fact the Venom symbiote. The particulate was found in Brock's apartment so it's a safe guess that he's in the driver's seat. Paperwork and fingerprints found at Brock's place tells us that he went back to playing reporter at some rag called the City Crier. We've got units stationed outside the Crier now.

* (unknown subject)

“A neighbor called in complaining of noise from one Brock Edwards’ apartment last night. When the officer showed up he found Ms. Jennifer Leery’s in critical condition, naked, in Brock's bed. No other occupants."

"No one was there? Venom didn't attack the officer on the scene?" Rassitano asked.

"No Venom but there was trace. We're going to send a sample to Dr. Richards for answers. The symbiote is shedding or molting or some such thing," Bennett said.

"Is this connected to the other attacks?"

"We believe so but not like you're thinking. We didn’t find any Particulate from the Venom symbiote in Brock's apartment. Nothing bigger than microscopic anyway."

"Explain," Rassitano said.

"We found a crimson substance that at first we took for blood. It wasn't. There was a lot of the cast off, red this time, near the window and at the secondary crime scene."

"Secondary crime scene?"

"Jen Leery wasn't the only one attacked last night. Her daughter and babysitter were slaughtered while Leery was with Brock. Crimson particulate, and only that, was found all over the crime scene."

"That can't be Carnage," Ruiz said.

"CSU confirms it is symbiote residue. The other crime scenes have it as well. Nothing from the Venom symbiote until last night though."

"What he did to that little girl, it's unspeakable. The act of a genuine psychopath," Stilleti said to the floor.

"Kasady isn't in control of the Carnage symbiote. He's locked up tight," Ruiz said.

"Either the Carnage symbiote has gone rogue or it's found a new host. From our understanding they don't do too well on their own, not for long periods of time anyway," Rassitano said.

"So either Carnage has found another nut to ride around on or he's corrupted some poor sap."

"Sounds right."

What's worse is that we're not dealing with just Venom anymore. We have two symbiotes running wild in the city, Bennett thought.

"Somebody call Spider-Man," Stilleti said grinning.

"What I'm wondering is how involved Venom is in all this if you've only found residue at one site."

"Doesn't matter. He gets brought in for questioning. We can hold him for 48 hours. We'll get our answers," Bennett said.

Bennett noted a subtle glance of acknowledgment float between the three Code Blue members. What the hell was that about, he wondered.

After two brief poundings on the conference room door Police Officer O’Grady, a tall, thick-built, tense looking man opened the door.

“Sirs, better come out here. There’s a report that Venom and Carnage are tearing up our officers down at the Crier.

Venom caught the police officer inches from crashing through the engraved front window of the City Crier. He had multiple stab wounds but bled minimally. Venom lowered him to the ground and leapt at Carnage. The red hued mass murderer was in the act of constricting another officer in its spiked tendrils.

"What're you doing here, Dad? I figured you'd have offed yourself by now from grief over the death of your little bitch," Carnage said decapitating the police officer.

Venom extended tentacles of himself around Carnage's throat and pulled tight. The remaining four officers were herding the employees of the Crier out of the building. Good, Venom thought. I was worried that they might try and fight off both of us.

The symbiote had been doing it's best to ventilate its host in the blistering summer heat when their son arrived. The shadow they were waiting in didn't provide any difference from standing in the direct sunlight. Brock had dozed off and the symbiote poked gently at his mind until he returned to consciousness. Carnage was moving at a high rate of speed to the street side of the building on the rooftop of the City Crier. Venom shot into action tearing through the thick, sticky air on a single web-line and hurled himself through the front door.

"We're here to give you a thorough spanking, spawn," Venom said extending his grin from ear to ear.

Venom's fist crashed against his son's face again and again. Pieces of the young symbiote splattered the desks like blood and dotted Venom's onyx fists. Both aliens noted the strange unraveling. Only Venom grinned.

"You're coming apart, boy."

Carnage steadied himself with hardened tendrils and caught the leaping Venom with more extensions, hurling him at one of the office windows. Venom rotated his body, fired webbing at the ceiling and the floor and sling-shot himself back at his son. Carnage turned his tentacles into sword and spear blades. Utilizing a true melding of man and symbiote Venom drew on the aliens gift of agility and angled himself through the mass of blades with minimal injury and landed on the other side.

"Impossible!" Carnage bellowed.

"Been at this a hell of a lot longer than you have, boy! That and I'm better at it than you and your watered down version of the symbiote." Venom fired webbing into Carnage's eyes and leapt out the door.

I sounded like Spider-man in there. It does feel pretty good to be on the other side of the insults. Venom leapt and began firing web-line after web-line. He looked over his shoulder and Carnage wasted no time swinging after him.

“Coward!” Carnage roared extending tendril after tendril to swing after Venom.

Venom knew the hatred came more from the alien spawn of his own symbiote than the host. The identification of the man beneath the alien skin was a mystery. Even if the body had been the same as the previous host (which it did not), Cletus Kasady was still locked down in a padded room.

“You two deserve one another, father! Weak and fails at everything you attempt. You only have the courage to fight the one thing that you shouldn’t!”

Venom launched himself higher in the cityscape of downtown Manhattan and fired another web-line.

“What’s that, boy?”

“Your nature!” Carnage climbed higher to matched his sire’s elevation.

Will it always come down to this? When the alien symbiote first grafted itself to Parker, it began draining him of his very life. Parker woke up to it and ditched the alien. I hit it off with the thing because he and I both hated Parker. The thing started to feed off me too. It was no overnight success but I managed to dominate its will. I made it work with me instead of devouring me. After that it only took small, if regular, amounts of whatever it needed from my body. In return I got to do what ever the hell I wanted as Venom. Uninhibited and beyond the law. Took a while but trying to get revenge on Parker lost its charm. The folly of youth. Everything was golden until the damn symbiote reproduced.

Then there were two. Carnage had none of the sire’s restraint. It had no problem feeding and killing. It didn’t help that it bonded with a genuine psychopath. It took even less time to break Kasady. The thing hates me because I broke it’s sires will or it hates the symbiote for getting tamed, doesn’t matter which. Carnage needs--

Venom screamed as Carnage’s barbed extension punctured his upper leg.

“Did I catch you dreaming? Thinkin’ `bout that poor Jen were ya?” Carnage swung a large crimson battle axe grown at the end of his arm. Venom let go of his line and fell free before the axe connected with him. He snapped off another line of webbing and swung to the side of the nearest skyscraper.

Carnage will need time to turn around before engaging us again, Venom thought. Thanks to the symbiote, the bleeding in his leg was already plugged. It was a temporary fix but it would hold. There was nothing to be done for the pain.

Venom scaled the wall diagonally, simultaneously tracking Carnage on his return arc. Venom turned, put his back to the wall and watched the hideous grin grow on his spawn’s face as he drew near. Red tentacles hardened and became sharp. Carnage’s hands disappeared beneath an axe and a sickle.

Waiting until the last possible moment Venom fired webbing at Carnage’s face. The spawn had caught on to that trick and raised his arm for shielding. Venom launched himself from the brick wall webbing the arm to his spawn‘s face. Carnage scrambled frantically before impacting with the steel enforced brickwork, creating a spider-web of cracks. Venom shot a line after line to increase the distance.

Carnage knew he was falling and increasing in speed, worse still, he was totally blind and didn’t know which way was up.

The current host, Ian Johnson, was stunned but only marginally injured. The human should last a little while longer anyway. Carnage extended tendrils in every direction at once, as far as he could reach. To his left, at the shoulder, the barbed extensions bounced off something. The alien aimed all his extensions, and drove hard.

The momentum tore one of the tentacles off and strained a dozen more. His velocity stopped, slowly, due to the elastic nature of the symbiote. He slapped into the side of the building, again. Carnage held fast and secured himself.

The alien rippled across Johnson’s bruised and bloody body. Close, father. Too close. You’ll pay for that. Your destruction will be a painful and lengthy experience. I wish it were otherwise but this body is rotten. The host has poisoned himself.

Carnage was puzzled for a long time as to why he was molting so rapidly, so early. The alien was shedding bio-matter faster than it could generate it. Carnage had probed deep and hard into Johnson’s brain for answers.

The human was an athlete which was the main reason why the symbiote had chosen him. Johnson was strong and aggressive, a fighter. It was all artificial. Carnage should have examined the human before bonding. The human was in a declining state of fitness and had been supplementing his power loss with something called steroids. Johnson had been using chemical enhancements for years and was suffering for it. Bad as the drugs were for the human they were lethal for symbiotes.

Venom hadn’t suffered for his choice in Brock. Why had Carnage had to? Venom didn’t deserve the host he had. Brock should have been left a husk years ago.

No, this will not continue, Carnage thought. Father has forgotten himself and our people. I need a strong host if I’m to fight this infection before it becomes fatal. I will kill father and steel Brock. Once I have him I bleed him dry and move on to the next mortal morsel.

“What’s up, Bennett. How many this time?” Rassitano asked unloading his gear from the Code Blue van.

Bennett, Stilleti and Code Blue made record time charging through Manhattan. It was a miracle that they caused no accidents. By the time they were on scene three patrol units had already cordoned off the street in front of the City Crier.

Ruiz and Fielstein were armed with weapons at the ready when Bennett and Stilleti returned from getting an update from inside thescene.

“It true we got Venom and Carnage in there?” Ruiz stretched her heavily muscled shoulders.

“There are injuries. Nothing too severe. One casualty, a cop. Both perps left the scene minutes before we got here,” Bennet said.

No one spoke for a beat.

“One casualty?” Rassitano asked.

“Two of our guys almost bought it but word is Venom showed up and stopped Carnage,” Stilleti said.

“Venom stopped Carnage,” Fielstein said.

“You heard right,” Stilleti said.

“Carnage blew into the Crier like a tornado but before he could really dig in Venom was throwin’ down with him. When Venom bolted, Carnage followed,” Bennett said.

“That’s nothing new though. They’ve been at odds before. Tried to kill one another even,” Rassitano said.

“When was the last time Venom saved someone from harm though? Especially cops?” Ruiz said.

Silence.

“Anyone else think Venom was here waiting for Carnage? Then lured him away so no one else got hurt?” Stilleti said.

“Would explain how Venom got here so fast. People inside said Carnage seemed surprised he was there at all.” Bennett flipped through his note pad. “He said, ‘I figured you'd have offed yourself by now from grief over the death of your little bitch.’”

“We clearly don’t have all the pieces to this puzzle yet,” Rassitano said.

“Venom crippled that woman. We just take ‘em both down,” Ruiz said.

“Stand down, Rigger. Venom will answer for whatever crimes he has committed. We gotta find `em both first,” Rassitano said.

“I’ll check on air support. Hopefully they’re out swinging around the city somewhere we can spot them.” Bennett strolled to his duty vehicle, a brown Honda Civic. His cell phone rang before he could open the door.

“Detective Bennett?” the dispatcher said.

“Yeah?”

“I’ve got a caller insisting he speak with you. He’s called three times now.”

“Who is it?”

“He won’t say. He just says he can help you close the Leery case and the other recent murders in one shot.”

“Put him through.”

Enmeshed in the crimson strands formed from the Carnage symbiote Venom was helplessly smashed through a rooftop chimney. Venom drove his claws into the tar covered roof but Carnage ripped him free and slammed him down, again.

“You’re so quiet, father. Where’s your sense of humor n--”

Twin web-lines shot out attaching themselves to Carnage’s shins. Venom pulled hard, slapping Carnage’s head off the tarmac. The tendrils binding him relaxed enough for Venom to jump free. He landed on his son’s chest. Enjoying the muffled crunching sound he leapt up into the blazing New York sky. Red tentacles lashed for the escaped prey but caught only air.

That was close, Venom thought. Something was seriously wrong with Brock’s back judging by how rapidly it was tightening. The symbiote took the worst of the assault but it wasn’t invulnerable. Brock knew he sure as hell wasn’t. Carnage had the advantage here.

Unlike the Venom symbiote, Carnage had no empathy for it’s host. The Carnage alien could and would just move on to the next host once the current once had expired to continue the chase. Brock had a monogamous relationship with his second skin. No one else could control his alien anyway so there really was no choice.

Who is the real target here, Brock wondered. Me or the alien? Carnage has stated his hatred for his “father” more than once. Even cursed it for not devouring me like all the other symbiotes do their hosts. Does that mean the Venom alien is the real target here? Carnage wants me for a host? Is that even possible?

The idea sent chills down his stiffening back. This would be the last fight between the two, one way or the other, Venom decided. He looked over his shoulder and fired another webline.

Come on, stupid. I’m not going to be able to take much more of--

Blazing pain slashed across his back. Venom froze in mid air, paralyzed. His entire back locked into place as he suffered an intolerable muscle spasm. Venom felt like he had been branded.

Venom fell.

Before Venom could muster the willpower to raise a limb and discharge a life saving web, what felt like a freight train slammed into his back triggered a howl of agony.

“Hi, Dad,” Carnage growled into his ear.

Venom extended claws, reached for his foe and latched onto Carnage. A red pick axe stabbed into Venom’s pelvis. Both combatant’s agonized screams were cut short when they impacted on the roof.

Venom managed to get to his feet willing, his symbiote acting as a bandage and support for the latest injury. Carnage was already up, firing barbed tentacles. Venom side-stepped, grabbed the extension and yanked. Carnage was off his feet and flew directly into Venom’s onyx fist.

More adrenaline!

The symbiote obeyed. In under a second the release of oxygen increased to Brock’s brain and muscle tissue. His reaction time was increased as was his aggression. How much of a difference it would make against Carnage he didn’t know but this was the final hour. Brock had to pull out all the stops.

Carnage lay at his feet. Venom turned and leapt from the building to its neighbor, the destination he had almost succeeded in making it to before Carnage and his failing back took him down. He flipped forward in mid flight, fearing a second strike from behind, just in time to react to Carnage descending upon him.

“You won’t be escaping, father. Never again.”

Carnage lashed out with twin tentacles and pulled Venom into close-quarters range. Venom began landing blow after blow to the head of his patricidal son as they crashed through the tenement building’s roof.

The duo refused to disengage after impacting on the top floor. Carnage manifested claws and cut into his bound sire. Venom returned strike for strike noting the sound of breaking bones and the discharge of red coming from his spawned symbiote. Some cuts were deeper and more severe than others but Venom felt none of them. His mind was focused on one thing: reducing Carnage to a red smear. He struck for all of Carnage’s victims in the recent weeks. He struck for the families that would mourn the loss of loved ones who died at the hands of this pure predator. Mostly he struck for what Brock had been forced to do to Jen and for the loss of her innocent daughter.

Carnage formed a war hammer on the end of his arm and slammed it down. He missed Venom’s head and struck the combat-weakened floor instead. Again both alien-enhanced humans fell together in a gory embrace.

Venom was on the bottom and suffered the worst of the fall. Carnage formed another hammer with his second hand and reared back. Brock was stunned. The symbiote was not. It launched tentacles that enwrapped Carnage’s limbs and held them shakily at bay.

“Come on, old man. Hasn’t this gone on long--”

Venom reached up with both hands and throttled Carnage. The choking sound pleased Brock. Crimson tendrils lashed out at Venom and met onyx strands at each turn. Carnage continued to choke as Venom rose to his feet.

“It HAS gone on long enough, Carnage. So today we end it.” Venom dashed forward, tripping Carnage and slamming him to the floor.

“Today--”

SLAM

“--it--”

SLAM

“--ENDS!”

The long rotten, wooden floor surrendered to the might of the battle and dropped the duo to the main floor. Humans and aliens alike were exhausted. Tentacles were retracted but Brock kept his hands locked on Carnage’s throat. So transfixed was he on the murder of his enemy, neither Brock nor his symbiote noticed the three pronged fork slowly manifest from Carnage’s chest. It exited Brock’s back unhindered.

Venom rolled onto his back spitting blood. He retracted the mask so he could attempt to draw a stronger breathe. It made no difference. Brock could faintly hear the sucking sound coming from his chest.

Carnage stumbled to his feet drawing deep choking breaths. He forced his throat to open again.

“You lose, father. Today you die and I will take Brock for myself. You have grown too weak to continue on this plane of existence. I find you unworthy and sentence you to death--”

“All this... all the killing... the re-bonding of us... this was just so you could kill us and take Brock as your host?” Venom tried to get up on all fours but the energy required was more than he could manage.

“I had to test you to make sure that you were still fit, Brock. I didn’t want you turning out to be weak and unworthy of me.”

“It doesn’t matter that children were hurt in this stupid game of yours?”

Carnage laughed harder than he had in a very long time. He formed a double-bladed war axe and raised it over his head.

Venom rolled over on his side exposing his back to Carnage. The symbiote began retreating from Brock’s body.

“I am embarrassed to be your spawn--”

The focus of the sonic emitter struck Carnage in the ribs sending pain searing throughout his form. The alien screamed in absolute agony. Large globules began dripping off the alien’s human host as it began backing away. From behind, a second bolt of sonics crashed into Carnage doubling the assault and threatening to steal consciousness from it.

“Keep it up, Rigger!” Fielstein ordered, keeping his beam focused on the back of Carnage's writhing and lashing form.

The crimson symbiote slid off of the near dead body of ‘The Idol’ Ian Johnson. His face was swollen like someone had taken a sledge hammer to it on one side. Dozens of lacerations and deep bruises marked his almost naked body. The last of the red alien slid off of its spent host and slid across the concrete floor.

“Watch it, Fireworks! It’s looking for a crack to slide through!” Rigger Ruiz yelled.

“Ain’t gonna happen, darlin‘,” Fireworks Fielstein fired a burst of sonics that sent the alien sliding in the opposite direction.

Ruiz and Fielstein maneuvered the alien symbiote away from Brock and Johnson where it stopped trying to escape and took a more upright form. The alien looked more hideous without the host form to take shape from. Not quite humanoid or even three dimensional, the alien was something akin to an evil, walking, meth-inspired painting.

“Fine, humans. You have me. Capture me and take me for --”

“We’re not here to capture you, alien,” Mad Dog Rassitano stepped from the shadows. He opened the ignition valve.

“What are you taking about?” the symbiote said.

“We’re done talking.” Rassitano bathed the alien in flames.

Carnage screamed even louder. Ruiz and Fielstein unleashed their twin blasts of sonic energy, forming a triangle of damage around the alien. It wasn’t long before the only sounds in the first floor of the abandoned tenement building was that of burning wood and charred flesh.

“Let it cool some then bag it. We’ll drop it off at Four Freedoms Plaza, let the good Dr. Richards decide what to do with it,” Rassitano said.

“Where the hell is Brock?” Ruiz yelled.

“Where do you think yer going, Eddie?” Bennett looked down at the almost naked, severely injured form of Eddie Brock. He had definitely seen better days, Bennett thought.

“You got what you want, cop. The killer is down. I’m done.”

“We got hours of fun questions for you to answer, Brock. You are going no where.” Stilleti drew his sidearm and held it at his side. Bennett kept his piece holstered. Brock looked like seven miles of rough road but he was still built like a tank. Neither policeman had thought to bring a taser or pepper spray. Brock was supposed to go down inside. It looked like only the symbiote was a casualty.

“Rassitano, everything secure in there?” Bennett said into his radio.

“Carnage is down, the host probably won’t make it. No sign of Brock or the Venom alien. Over.”

“We’ve got Brock out here but no sign of the symbiote. That thing get away from you in there?”

“Could’ve crawled into a crack or something. We’re scanning now. Over.”

“Put your hands on your head and drop to your knees, Brock. Let’s be cool about this,” Stilleti said.

Brock frowned and shook his head.

“I gave you Carnage. I’ve committed no crime. I am not going to jail and I sure as hell ain’t going back to the loony bin. Walk away like you ain’t seen me an’ no one has to visit the hospital.”

“I’ve been to the hospital, Brock. We saw what you did to Jen Leery. They don‘t know if she‘ll ever walk again,” Stiletti said.

“She’s alive?”

Brock lowered his eyes, his brow furrowed. Bennett couldn’t hear what he mumbled.

“Why’d you try to kill her, Brock? What did she do you?”

“Shut up, Stilleti.” Bennett drew his gun. “Hands on your head, Brock!”

Shadows began intensifying around Brock. Is that him or the clouds, Bennett wondered and raised his pistol.

“She try to run away when you told you what you really were? Or did she laugh at you when--”

Tendrils of pure onyx shot out from Brock’s mouth and wrenched both men’s firearms from their hands before either could squeeze the triggers. Thicker strands of animate ink took the police men by the hands, gagged them and slammed them into the nearest wall.

The black crawled out across Brock’s body stemming from his mouth. His red-rimmed eyes never leaving Stilleti’s face.

Venom belched as though he had just finished a keg of beer.

“You need to watch yer mouth, cop. If we were the monster you thought we were you’d be dead now. We’re going to let you both live. That’s two favors you owe. Are we clear?”

Venom slammed both men into the brick wall.

Stilleti hung limp. Bennett squinted his eyes at Venom.

“I am leaving and the symbiote is going with me. We won’t be this gentle next time, cop.” Venom dropped the policemen and swung off.

Bennett checked his partner’s pulse. The idiot was alive, just out. Bennett rubbed his wrists and retrieved his radio.

“Rassitano, Brock still has the symbiote. The perp has rabbited.” Can’t wait to hear how the L.T. feels about this.

Venom swung as fast and as far as he could before surrendering control to the alien. He was too hurt. His back was on fire with pain and he knew he had a punctured lung. The symbiote was plugging holes and keeping everything together but it wouldn’t be too long before he had to get medical attention. Brock knew a few places. Not all doctors worked in hospitals and fancy offices.

That wasn’t the real issue. Carnage was finally destroyed but Brock was also Venom again. It would always be this way, he thought. On its own the alien would likely revert to Carnage-like behavior and people would get hurt. Brock didn’t want any more Jen Leerys or their kids on his conscious. They were enough.

He wouldn’t visit her. Not one more time. She was safer away from him and his burden; his curse. It was because of him and his spawn that she lost her child. Even if she took him back and they cobbled some kind of life together there would always be the death of her child between them. Better she get to healing herself now, Brock thought.

There were too many bad memories here in New York. All his faces were too well known. He’d already tried California so that was out too. All he needed was a team of Avengers hunting him down. Plenty of states he could get lost in. Plenty of countries he could slip into.

That was the one good thing about the alien. He never had to rely on anyone, ever.

Brock knew he would never be alone.

END OF VOLUME ONE

ESSENCE OF VENOM

There you have it. The end of both my run and the first volume of VENOM.

My health has kept me from writing regularly which is why its taken me over two months to wrap this up.

I didn’t think that I would have as much fun playing with Venom and all his selves as I did. He and his second skin are really quite complex. Much like Brock and his outlook on life. He’s not really a hero nor does he have any desire to be one. He’s not a villain either, not any more than the Punisher is. With Parker out of his system and Carnage out of this world Brock and his alien really have a wide open future before them. There’s nothing to slow them down and few to stop them from what ever it is that they choose to pursue.

Where will that road take them?

That’s for the next writer to decide.

Hope it was as fun reading as it was writing.

-C. William Russette 9.12.2007