Extreme Venomverse #2 (2023)

In his laboratory, Mister Fantastic marvels over the symbiote that until recently had been masquerading as Spider-Man's black costume, which is secured in a small canister. Eager to study it, Mister Fantastic decides to to first make sure that Johnny Storm isn't pranking their guest. Confident that the symbiote should be secure given that he designed his lab's the security features himself, Mister Fantastic leaves. Once he's gone, the Black Cat -- Spider-Man's girlfriend -- emerges from the shadows, noting that while Mister Fantastic may be one of the smartest scientists alive he doesn't have a background in security -- leaving tiny flaws she was able to exploit to sneak in. Felicia laments that Spider-Man won't be happy about her having followed him or broken into the Fantastic Four's headquarters, but that she was worried about how frazzled he's been lately. Approaching the symbiote, she notes to herself that a living costume explains a few of the bizarre things that have been happening to her lover lately. Felicia notes that her relationship with Peter's been on the rocks ever since she caught him getting cozy with Mary Jane Watson, but that when she indignantly tried to storm off Peter shot a web at her to stop her from leaving. Felicia notes that at the time she thought it'd been Peter's way of begging her to give him another chances, but now knows it was the symbiote who didn't want her to go. Addressing the symbiote, Felicia notes that they're not so different -- both of them like Peter, but he just doesn't get them. Saying she doesn't like keeping living creatures trapped in tiny cages, Felicia cuts a hole in the canister with her claws -- the symbiote bursting out and expanding to fill the lab before engulfing her. Elsewhere in the facility, Johnny Storm snickers as he introduces Spider-Man as the "Bombastic Bag-Man" -- having given Spider-Man a spare Fantastic Four uniform and a paper bag with eyeholes cut into it due to the team not using masks. As Spider-Man vows to pay Johnny back for this prank, an alarm goes off and Reed is horrified that the symbiote has been freed by an unknown intruder. Reed, Johnny, and Spider-Man rush to the lab to discover the Black Cat has bonded to the symbiote. As Felicia incredulously asks what he's wearing, Peter shoots the question right back at her; Johnny flirting with her to Reed's dismay. Peter furiously informs Johnny that Felicia is obviously wearing the symbiote, Johnny saying it's a good look and she pulls it off like he never could. Felicia tries to defuse the situation, saying that the symbiote likes her, but Spider-Man interrupts and informs her that it was puppeteering his body at night; Felicia retorting that his guilt complex compels him to stay out all night anyway and that it was probably just trying to give him what it thought he wanted. Refusing to listen, Spider-Man snaps that he won't let the symbiote have his girlfriend only for Symbiote Black Cat to enlarge her fist and punch him in the face, telling him to back off. As Spider-Man proclaims this as evidence the symbiote is corrupting her, Felicia retorts that she was the one who hit him because he wasn't respecting her boundaries. As Spider-Man urges Reed to do something, Reed leaves to get some equipment to test a hypothesis. Johnny flames on to keep Felicia contained in a flame cage, the symbiote writhing in pain from the intense heat. As Johnny inquires how she got into the Baxter Building, Felicia says she hacked the security system and activates the anti-Human Torch protocols, dousing Johnny in fire-retardant foam. As Spider-Man begs Felicia to separate from the symbiote, Reed returns with the sonic emitter he'd used to separate the symbiote from Spider-Man. As Reed shoots Felicia with it, Spider-Man cheers as he assumes the symbiote will be killed.... only to be horrified that it had no effect. Reed chidingly says he just used the sonic gun's casing to make a portable brain chemistry scanner to get a sense of the symbiote's emotional state, telling Spider-Man that the symbiote is displaying extreme levels of contentment and happiness -- even moreso than when it was bonded to him. Felicia remarks that Reed's just corroborating what she's been saying all along, that the symbiote likes her. Spider-Man reminds her that it wants to permanently bond with its host, but Felicia scoffs that the reason it got so stressed was because Spider-Man was he saw that as a problem -- just like how he's scared of a "permanent bond" with her. Spider-Man stammers that he's not scared of her, but Felicia tells him to save it for his redheaded paramour, opening the aircraft hanger doors and saying she'll still see him on the rooftops before web-swinging away. As Spider-Man begs her to stop before it's too late, Mister Fantastic stops him from chasing after her, bluntly stating that the symbiote was only acting maliciously because of Spider-Man's fear of commitment, and that it should be benign with someone willing to fully accept it. As a sulking Spider-Man dejectedly asks if Reed is saying he can't even maintain a relationship with a costume, Johnny teases him for losing his snazzy new suit and girlfriend to each other. Web-swinging across New York, Symbiote Black Cat revels in her new powers; not noticing she's being watched by Agent Venom, who notes that Felicia is perfectly in sync with her symbiote and can control it as well as she can her own despite only having just bonded to it, making her down as a perfect addition to her team.