Edge of Venomverse #3 (2017)

At the S.H.I.E.L.D. prison base in East Los Angeles, a maximum-security prison transfer is prepped for Doctor Calvin Zabo, a notorious mad scientist also known by his codename Mister Hyde, in order to take him to his trial. The Sergeant in charge explains to her comrades that almost every villain on the planet has a reason to want Zabo dead and will be gunning for him, making S.H.I.E.L.D.'s duty to keep him safe a nightmare by forcing them to do the transport the old-fashioned way. Loading a smugly amused Dr. Zabo into an armored vehicle, the prison transfer convoy sets out and is immediately ambushed by Forge wielding a bazooka. The convoy opens fire before Forge can attack, killing him, but immediatley afterwards is attacked from all sides by the Maggia, mutated chimpanzees with jetpacks sent by his rivals, vampires on dune buggies, and undead human-eggplant hybrids he had created on a whim. Zabo casually informs the Sergeant guarding him why each faction is after him, leaving her disgusted as she orders her troops to fire at will. The convoy is attacked by a Sasquatch version of Deadpool equipped with Doctor Octopus's tentacles, who Zabo introduces as Octosquatchpool, an assassin with an extremely implausible backstory who was hired by the families of his victims. As the S.H.I.E.L.D. convoy is overwhelmed by the assailents, a new figure joins the battle: a monstrous version of Ghost Rider standing atop a biomechanical-looking car wreathed in flames. As the monstrous Ghost Rider massacres the would-be assassins, Zabo demands to know what's going on. The Sergeant responds that Ghost Rider has arrived but that something is different about him, causing Zabo to remark that that wasn't part of the plan. Outside the armored vehicle, the Ghost Rider leap-frogs the S.H.I.E.L.D. convoy, his car's grille opening into a fanged mouth to devour a pair of chimpanzees. The Sergeant demands to know what Zabo meant by that, but he dodges the question by saying he has a feeling in his bones, recalling that he'd hired Crossbones to break him free during the chaos of his transport. The Sergeant expresses confusion at Ghost Rider's ruthlessness, remarking that according to his dossier he was a superhero indwelled by a demon but dedicated to protecting the innocent. Engaging Octosquatchpool, the monstrous Ghost Rider proves her wrong by snaring two of her men with chains and using them as bludgeons. As Ghost Rider restrains Octosquatchpool, the Sergent notes that the black goop covering him matches the description of the alien lifeform that bonded to Spider-Man in the 1980's, remarking that makes no sense as the symbiote was vulnerable to fire. The armored vehicle carrying the Sergent and Zabo crashes into the Venomized Ghost Rider and Octosquatchpool, killing the latter and flipping the vehicle onto its roof. The Venomized Ghost Rider rips open the vehicle and the Sergent begins to thank him for assisting them, but he abruptly wraps his flaming prehensile tongue around her throat and tells her to shut up, be still, and let him taste her soul. Noting that she is a morally upstanding person fixated on justice, the Venomized Ghost Rider tosses her aside in disgust before turning to Zabo, who asks who he is. The Venomized Ghost Rider narrates his backstory: Robbie Reyes had been an ordinary boy until he was possessed by a demonic fiend, but used its power to serve the greater good until a second, alien fiend had bonded to him, upsetting the balance. The three entities warred with each other for control of their shared body, until from the ensuing madness the gestalt being called the Host Rider was born. Noticing that Zabo isn't afraid of him, the Host Rider asks why and Zabo smugly gives the same answer that he did to the S.H.I.E.L.D. Sergeant. The Host Rider reveals that he is aware of the deal Zabo made with Crossbones, catching the mad scientist off-guard. When Zabo demands to know how the Host Rider found out, the symbiotically-augmented Hell Charger opens its mouth and vomits Crossbones' half-digested corpse onto the street. Praising his vehicle as the perfect illustration of the fusion of unearthly and unholy that comprises his being, the Host Rider snares Zabo with chains as he tries to flee and then divulges the meaning behind his name: the Venom symbiote and Eli Morrow had united to overcome their individual weaknesses and seized control of their host. Splitting apart to reveal Robbie has been reduced to little more than a vessel under their complete control, Eli Morrow and the Venom symbiote taunt Zabo, saying that while the Hell Charger only needs to consume flesh for nourishment they have more refined tastes. Eli and the symbiote recombine, the Host Rider stating that he has come to eat Zabo's sins. Host Rider then sucks Zabo's soul from his body and devours it, sadistically acting like a date whose partner wanted them to put out but didn't enjoy the ensuing kiss. Host Rider manifests the Hell Charger and feeds Zabo's corpse to it, but he and the monstrous car are abruptly pulled through a portal and expelled in a post-apocalyptic version of Los Angeles. Initially enraged and vowing to unleash hell upon the one who abducted him, Host Rider is confronted by a Venomized Captain America.