Venomized #1 (2018)

At the Xavier Institute for Mutant Education and Outreach, Eye-Boy spots something unusual approaching and points it out to Bling!. Noticing five approaching silhouettes that appear to be the X-Force, Bling! notes something is wrong but Eye-Boy disregards her warning and waves to them. He is promptly shot and collapses in a pool of red fluid. Thinking he's been injured, she starts to ask if he's alright when the red liquid begins covering his body. The approaching figures - Poisoned versions of Domino, Feral, Fantomex, Cable, and Wolverine - attack the manor with symbiote projectiles. Hearing gunfire and screaming, Kitty Pryde investigates in time to see a student get shot and covered by a symbiote. Colossus, Logan, and Nightcrawler arrive; Nightcrawler throwing off Poison Cable's aim when he tries to shoot Shadowcat, only to be shot in the back with a symbiote by Poison Domino. Shadowcat wonders why they're attacking the X-Men with symbiotes, but Logan dismisses the question and lunges towards the intruders before being shot as well. Colossus is shot shielding Kitty, who scolds him for not taking her intangibility into account before being shocked at the sight of Colossus, Logan, and Nightcrawler augmented by symbiotes. Exiting the Leprechaun Irish Bar, Hercules and Thor lean on each other for support as the Greek demigod drunkenly recounts one of his adventures, which Thor quips she's heard several times before and that he changes it each time. Sensing they're being watched from a nearby roof - where Poisoned versions of Taskmaster and Crossbones take aim - she calls down a bolt of lightning to vaporize them; not noticing Poison Hawkeye taking aim at them from a nearby window. Thor is hit by a symbiote arrow, while Hercules is shot by Poison Crossbones - who survived Thor's lightning unscathed. In Midtown, Spider-Man dodges a barrage of gunfire from Poison Punisher, returning fire with a rapid barrage of quips speculating his origin. Noting his resemblance to the Punisher, Spider-Man dismisses him as a cheap knockoff before being hit by a grenade. Realizing he is covered in a symbiote, which takes on the appearance of his black suit, Spider-Man mocks Poison Punisher's declaration of victory and attacks, asking what he thought giving him a power-up would accomplish. Extending his skull-emblem's teeth into blades, Poison Punisher tells Spider-Man he is one of many people who has been drafted into the Hive. Elsewhere in the city, Nova flees from a Poison Vulture, the Defenders fight off a group of Poisons, Ironheart is infected with a symbiote by Poison Scorpion, and Vision and a symbiote-infected Falcon face off against a Poison Shuma-Gorath. Poison Punisher informs Spider-Man that the Hive has come to claim Earth's strongest heroes, making the metaphor of seasoning a meal. At the Xavier Institute, Poison Wolverine and the symbiote-empowered Logan brawl as Colossus and Nightcrawler try to strangle Poison Feral and Poison Domino. Storm blasts a hole through the roof only to be promptly shot by Poison Cable. Shrugging off Symbiote Spider-Man's attacks, Poison Punisher tells him to spend what little time he has left to say goodbye to his loved ones - Mary Jane and Aunt May. Shocked, Spider-Man demands to know how Poison Punisher knows who he is, and is informed that he's not the only Spider-Man they've claimed. Poison Punisher retreats, and as Symbiote Spider-Man is about to pursue he notices some undetonated symbiote grenades nearby and decides against leaving them where innocent bystanders could be hurt. In space en route to Earth, the Young X-Men contact Jimmy Hudson and inform him of the threat the Poisons pose, having received an urgent transmission from Corsair that all the symbiotes on Planet Klyntar have been abducted. Hank tells Jimmy the Poisons will attack areas with high concentrations of superpowered individuals, urging him to check on the school. Jimmy asks where Jean is, but Scott interrupts Hank before he can say she was killed and tells Jimmy to get to the school before it's too late. Onboard his ship, Poison Thanos looks over a screen displaying several superpowered individuals, the darkened screens indicating those who have been bonded to symbiotes. Poison Doctor Doom notes that their simultaneous attacks have primed many promising targets for consumption. Poison Thanos remarks that this world is different from the others they've conquered and Poison Doom acknowledges there are more symbiotes and more super-powered people than most. He remarks that Haze Mancer's research has come in handy in genetically altering the symbiotes to reduce the time required for them to bond to a host, then asks about the anomaly that had cost them the Venomverse War. Poison Thanos remarks that while Carnage does not appear to be active in this reality, he has dispatched Poison Black Cat to raid S.H.I.E.L.D. facilities and discern his location. Stating that Carnage being contained is imperative given the damage wrought by the incarnation Poison Doom had encountered, Poison Thanos warns Poison Doom that he has not forgotten his failures and that he can easily be replaced. As Poison Doom replies that all of them can easily be replaced, a glowing purple figure surrounded by unbound Poisons watches their conversation; appearing to Poison Doom as his mother and to Poison Thanos as Death. Symbiote Spider-Man web-swings through the town carrying the symbiote grenades in a satchel and wondering where Poison Punisher disappeared to. Concerned at how comfortable he feels with being bonded to the symbiote, he makes a bee-line to Our Lady of Saints Church to remove it the same way he did his first one; apologizing for what he's about to do to it. However, while the church bells cause them both agonizing pain the symbiote refuses to separate from him. At Ravencroft, Poison Kraven, Poison Lady Deathstrike, and Poison Morbius interrogate a guard as to the whereabouts of the "anomaly". The guard stammers he has no clue what they're referring to, so Morbius tears out his throat and drinks his blood. They find Cletus Kasady suspended in a cell by his arms and back, tubes connecting his legless torso to the ground. The three Poisons mock the loss of his legs and dismiss him as pathetic without his beloved symbiote, and Cletus snarls that he'll show them who's pathetic when they're choking on their own blood. Pleased that Cletus' bloodlust is intact and that without his symbiote he can't harm them, Poison Morbius tells his comrades to bring him. In Our Lady of Saints' belltower, Spider-Man tries to communicate with his new symbiote, noting that while it can't speak he can feel its emotions. He asks it why it didn't leave him despite the pain of the bells, realizing that something has been done to it so that it can't leave him even if it wanted to. His one-way conversation is interrupted as he spots Thor and Hercules and sees they're bonded to symbiotes as well, chasing after them. At the Avengers HQ, Captain America meets with Kitty Pryde and members of the city's various hero teams, many of whom have been infected by symbiotes. He informs them that attacks similar to the one that hit the Xavier Institute have happened around the world, focused on areas with high superhero and supervillain concentrations. Kitty is confused as to why the attackers didn't kill anyone, noting that they were powerful enough to have torn the school apart but just infected as many people as they could with symbiotes before leaving and telling him of the existence of their homeworld. Vision notes that symbiotes have been weaponized in the past, but never in so precise a manner. Logan remarks that the ones who attacked the school resembled the members of X-Force, even having a Wolverine. The Thing - one of the heroes bonded to a symbiote - remarks that he's unsettled by how much stronger he feels. Ms. Marvel asks the adult heroes to tell them what's going on, assuming they already know all about the threat based on their decades of databases and contingency plans, and Captain America sadly admits they're flying blind. Wreathed in plasma, Danger careens towards the city as Hank informs the others she was unable to handle atmospheric reentry on top of their long-distance space flight. Thor notices the ship and she and Hercules move to intercept it, assuming it to be connected to the attack. As Hercules revels in the power his symbiote gives him, they are joined by Symbiote Spider-Man - who warns them that power comes with a cost. Magneto arrives alongside Polaris, Jimmy, and Bloodstorm; stopping the ship and depositing it on the ground. Symbiote Spider-Man notes he recognizes the plane as belonging to the X-Men and asks if it has something to do with the symbiote attack, Magneto telling him to see for himself just as the Young X-Men and Venom disembark. Symbiote Spider-Man immediately accuses Venom of being behind the new symbiote invasion, but Venom exasperatedly explains that he was trying to warn them before it was too late - which it obviously is given their matching outfits. Symbiote Spider-Man asks what he's talking about, and Venom replies that they're in for a war. On the Poison' ship, Poison Thanos and Poison Doom discuss Haze Mancer's research, Doom remarking that Cletus Kasady eagerly volunteered to join them when informed he would get a symbiote. However, he notes that the remnants of the Carnage symbiote within Cletus' blood don't want to share him with another symbiote and are trying to reject it, causing him excruciating pain. Poison Thanos notes that this is troublesome, and Poison Doom notes that the remnants of Cletus' original symbiote will have to be purged if Carnage is to be reborn as an agent of the Hive, one whose bloodlust could bring them a swift and decisive victory. Opening a door, he and Poison Doom observe Cletus Kasady strapped to a table and half-covered by his new symbiote, screaming and begging for it to be removed as it struggles to bond with him.