Venomverse #1 (2017)

Soaring over the New York skyline, Jack O'Lantern dives into a street complaining about Venom disrespecting his territorial boundaries. Quipping that his mother never taught him manners, Venom leaps through Jack's barrage of exploding candies and punches him in the face. Slamming Jack into the wall of an apartment, Venom says that they've got unfinished business and that he was going to get around to him sooner or later, but that now's as good a time as any. As Venom dangles him off the edge of a fire escape, Jack surrenders and asks to be taken to prison, but Venom retorts that that's not an option, throwing him to the ground. As Jack tries to crawl to safety, attracting the attention of onlookers, Venom leaps down and lands on Jack's spine, telling the civilians to stay back. One of them asks Venom if Jack is dead, but Venom retorts that he'll live. Suddenly feeling ill, Venom's symbiote turns into a vortex and he vanishes into thin air. Reappearing in a desolate version of the alley, Venom wonders if Jack hit him with something but notes that he seems to be in one piece. Noticing the city around him is in ruins, Venom realizes this isn't Jack's doing but spots a small boy approaching and asking for help. Retracting the symbiote from his face, Eddie asks the boy what happened and tells him not to be scared. As he reaches out to take the boy's hand, a black and white shield smashes into the child's head, a tendril pulling it back. Outraged, Eddie Venoms up and turns to confront the boy's killer, only to see it's a Venomized Captain America. Captain Venom remarks that he doesn't know what Eddie saw, but that it wasn't a friendly and that if he'd waited another second Eddie would have been useless to him. Captain Venom demands Eddie come with him, but Venom protests that the Captain America he knows wouldn't kill a child. Captain Venom tells Venom to fall in line, then asks if what he saw was someone important; but Venom retorts that no-one means anything to him. As they depart, the child is revealed to be a small, skeletal crystalline creature. As they web-swing across the city, Venom asks for answers but Captain Venom refuses to give any until they're safe, lamenting that the magic that brought them here is getting weaker. Confused, Venom follows Captain Venom into the subway, asking what he means, and Captain Venom leads him into a room where a Venomized Ant-Man, Venomized Black Panther, Host Rider, Venomized X-23, Venomized Old Man Logan, Venomized Rocket Raccoon, Venompool, Symbiote Spider-Man, Agent Venom, Mania, and Venomized Spinneret are waiting. Symbiote Spider-Man recognizes Eddie and disparagingly complains about his presence, Mania sneering that Eddie isn't her Venom. Rocket, working on constructing a high-powered explosive device, snaps at everyone to shut up. Retracting the symbiote from his face, Eddie asks where all the Venoms came from, guessing they're from other realities and asking why they've been gathered together and who thought doing so was a good idea. Captain Venom says it wasn't his idea, and when Eddie states he thought Captain Venom was their leader, a Venomized Doctor Strange approaches in a wheelchair and says that he was the one who conscripted them into a battle for the symbiotes' species. When Eddie asks why he should care, Doctor Strange says that they have all bonded with and care for their symbiotes and that this is their last chance to save their symbiotes. Eddie asks what they're saving their symbiotes from, and Captain Venom explains that what he killed wasn't a child but a monster. Old Man Venom, Host Rider, and Black Panther explain that the monsters are called Poisons, and that while they are weak in their base forms they can psychically disguise themselves as their target's loved ones and can consume a symbiote and its host to become more powerful. Eddie says that it seems like they already have a plan and don't need him, but Spider-Man interrupts and criticizes Captain Venom and Doctor Strange for bringing Eddie into the fold, dismissing him as a psychopath who would never help them. Angered, Eddie snaps that Spider-Man may have known an Eddie Brock but that he doesn't know him, covering his face and snarling that Spider-Man strikes him as being the same as any other. Venom guesses that Spider-Man chose to keep his version of the symbiote, asking if he thinks that gives him the right to pick a fight before threatening to show him how wrong his is. Agent Venom intervenes and tells them to stand down, saying there are too few of them left to allow for infighting, but Spinneret agrees with Spider-Man, saying that no matter the reality Eddie Brock brings out the worst in his symbiote and corrupts it. When Rocket suggests they could send Eddie on a suicide run, Venom tells Doctor Strange to send him home. Mania and X-23 chase after him as he turns to leave, telling him that their symbiotes make them targets and that if the Poisons don't get him now they'll hunt him down later, and that alone he wouldn't stand a chance: the Poisons assimilate both the host and the symbiote, but cause them to cease to exist as their own entities. Spider-Man's spider-sense goes off and he berates Captain Venom and Venom for being followed as a Poison version of the Hulk smashes through the roof. Mania tells Spinneret to get Doctor Strange to safety as Agent Venom provides covering fire, but the Poison Hulk punches Flash into a wall, crushing him. Venom states that they weren't supposed to touch to Poisons, and Spider-Man explains that once they merge with a symbiote they can't consume anyone else. Poison Hulk knocks them to the ground, but Captain Venom intervenes before he can follow up. As Poison Hulk grabs him, he tells the others to scatter, and Mania tells Rocket to detonate his explosive device to seal the subway tunnel. Venom and Spider-Man flee together, Eddie struggling to process what's going on. Spider-Man tells him it'll help if he stops thinking of the Poisons as the people they once were, and that they'll regroup with the survivors later. As they reach the surface, Venom says he'll be better in a fight if he knows what he's up against, and Spider-Man snaps that all Eddie ought to need to know is that he's being hunted. When Venom sneers that he's the hunter, Spider-Man states that he isn't anymore and indicates a host-less Poison watching them from the broken window of a nearby building. Web-swinging to the George Washington Bridge, Venom digests the information Spider-Man has provided: that the Poisons are hunting symbiotes and Doctor Strange put together an army of Venoms to stop them. Spider-Man agrees, noting that Poisons make even worse hosts than Eddie does, but before they can fight they're interrupted by a Poison version of Doctor Octopus and two host-less Poisons. Poison Ock tells Venom and Spider-Man that they will live on as a part of the Poisons, but Venom says this should be easy given that Spider-Man was able to trounce Doc Ock on a regular basis. Spider-Man reiterates that Eddie needs to stop thinking of them as people; Poison Ock telling them to give up and that while the symbiotes' human host will die, the symbiote will become more powerful than ever. Transforming the symbiote biomass at the tip of one of his tentacles into a spike, Poison Ock impales Venom through the chest and throws him aside. As the symbiote heals him, Venom turns to see a host-less Poison approaching and roars at it in an attempt to scare it off. Spider-Man tells Venom to not let it touch him, but Poison Ock takes advantage of the distraction and grabs him. As the Poison steps towards him, Venom grabs a rock with a tendril and crushes its head. Struggling to free himself, Spider-Man tells Venom to run, but Venom comes to his aid and viciously attacks Poison Ock, even biting off one of his tentacles. As Spider-Man recovers, the other hostless Poison disguises itself as Aunt May and manipulates him into touching it. Impaling Poison Ock through the head with a rebar beam, Venom turns to check on Spider-Man only to see the Poison has assimilated him. Poison Spider-Man remarks that Peter Parker is gone now and that he intends to do what Spider-Man never had the guts to do: kill Venom.