Appearing in 1st story
Featured Characters:
- ⏴ King in Black / Venom / Bedlam (Eddie Brock) ⏵ (Main story and flashback)
- Hallows' Eve (Janine Godbe)
Supporting Characters:
- Goblin Queen (Madelyne Pryor) (Main story and flashback)
Antagonists:
- Chasm (Ben Reilly) (Only in flashback)
- Synch (Everett Thomas)
Other Characters:
- Beyond Corporation (Referenced)
- Spider-Man (Peter Parker) (Only in recap)
- X-Men (Only in recap)
- Firestar (Angelica Jones) (Only in recap)
- Iceman (Bobby Drake) (Only in recap)
- Havok (Alex Summers) (Mentioned)
- Human Fly (Richard Deacon) (Referenced)
- Venom (Dylan Brock)
Races and Species:
- Symbiotes (Main story and flashback)
- Humans (Main story and flashback)
- Mutants (Main story and flashback)
- Demons (Main story and flashback)
- Spiders (Mentioned)
- Zombies (Mentioned)
- Werewolves (Referenced)
- Vampires (Referenced)
- Mummies (Referenced)
Locations:
- Limbo (Only in flashback)
- Madelyne Pryor's throne room (Only in flashback)
- Earth (Main story and recap)
- North America (Main story and recap)
- New York City (Main story and recap)
- Manhattan (Main story and recap)
- Central Park
- Rockefeller Center (Only in recap)
- Manhattan (Main story and recap)
- Krakoa, Pacific Ocean (Referenced)
- New York City (Main story and recap)
- North America (Main story and recap)
Items:
- Scythe of Sorrows (Main story and flashback)
- Scarlet Spider's Suit (Mentioned)
- Hallows' Eve's Masks
- X-Uniforms
- Spider-Man's Suit and Web-Shooters (Only in recap)
- Scarlet Spider's Web-Shooters
- Cerebro Drive (First appearance)
- Flowers of Krakoa
Synopsis for 1st story
In the Goblin Queen's throne room, Eddie Brock -- the King in Black -- tells her and Chasm that he while he agreed to work with them his first and only priority is saving his son Dylan from a dark future he created, warning them not to double-cross him. Chasm tells Eddie to relax, saying they're all friends... before admitting he doesn't actually know due to the gaping hole in his memory. As Eddie recognizes Ben Reilly's voice, Chasm stalks towards him saying that they probably met before, sneering that he probably kicked Eddie's butt. Eddie remarks that if they met before Chasm was wearing a different costume, telling Ben to get out of his personal space. Stepping even closer, Chasm states that he's so close to a breakthrough he can taste it... and then uses his new memory-stealing powers on Eddie. As Eddie drops to his knees, screaming in pain, Chasm mocks his self-inflicted suffering and says he's going to return Eddie back to "factory settings", saying Eddie can see Dylan again after he's done helping Ben and Madeylne. His beard and moustache receding, Eddie grins maniacally and transforms into his classic Venom form before asking who Dylan is.
In the present, Janine Godbye -- now the demonically-empowered supervillain Hallows' Eve -- watches Eddie approach the Treehouse, Krakoa's Manhattan headquarters, and says that now that he's got his fight with Spider-Man out of his system it's time for him to do something for her and Madelyne. Saying that he's hungry for brains, Eddie smirks and transforms into Venom. Janine mulls over the hypocrisy of Ben having violated Eddie's mind and wonders if siding with Madelyne Pryor was a mistake given how she backstabbed Eddie before deciding that the only things she cares about are being with Ben and getting revenge on the world for hurting them. Reaffirming her friendship with Madelyne, Hallows' Eve asks if she's sure the X-Men won't see them coming. Madelyne assures Janine that - while she can't directly attack Krakoa - she's able to use her powers to shield Janine from detection by those with enhanced senses and psychic powers. As Eddie smashes through the wall of the Treehouse, Madelyne casts a scrying spell to let Janine see through his eyes and Janine informs her that the Treehouse was not left unguarded. Unconcerned, Madelyne replies that while the X-Men are busy saving people from possessed objects, it makes sense that they would leave their strongest member, Synch, to hold the fort. Lamenting that she can't fight Synch herself due to her agreement with Krakoa, Madelyne says that Eddie is on his own.
Blasting Eddie with Cyclops' eye-beams, Synch asks if Eddie is having a midlife crisis, saying he's aware of the former Venom's heel-face turn and quipping that the two-foot tongue is passe. Snarling that he'll rip out Synch's tongue and eat it with his brains, Eddie punches Synch away; Synch quipping that his brain -- with five centuries' worth of knowledge, experience, and replicated powers -- would probably be like caviar to a symbiote or zombie. Tanking Synch's eye-beams, Eddie snarls that he's as bad as Spider-Man before grabbing him by the face and slamming him to the floor. Donning an insect mask inspired by the Human Fly, Hallows' Eve sprouts insect wings and takes off, revelling in her new Halloween-inspired powers. Having armed herself with one of Ben's old web-shooters, Hallows' Eve fires an impact web laced with molecular acid - melting a hole into the Treehouse's storage area.
Alerted to her intrusion, Synch decides to stop holding back and copies Eddie's symbiote powers. Livid, Eddie snarls that Synch is just a fake symbiote pretending to be Venom, but that he is the real Venom... only to trail off as he abruptly realizes he can't hear the Venom symbiote's voice in his mind. Scanning Eddie's mind, Synch informs him that he's a King in Black possessing divine powers transcending those of a normal symbiote, and speculates that the power was too much for Eddie's mortal mind to handle. Remarking that he doesn't really care about Eddie's tragic situation since Eddie's the one who attacked him, Synch uses psychokinesis to force Eddie to punch himself in the face. Hallucinating that he's being attacked by Spider-Man, Eddie flees screaming in anguish, and Synch telepathically alerts the X-Men that the Treehouse was attacked.
Relieved that Synch wasn't able to force her to give her prize back, Hallows' Eve returns to Madelyne with a Cerebro Drive - a fist-sized metallic sphere able to record up to ten mutants' minds as part of an upgrade to the Resurrection Protocols. Handing it over, Janine asks how she found out about it and Maddie admits she seduced it out of Alex Summers, thanking Janine for her and Ben's help. Fleeing through the streets, Eddie reels from the realization that he's missing chunks of his memories and piloting a mindless scrap of living abyss. Initially blaming Spider-Man for his predicament, Eddie is consumed by rage and transforms into Bedlam, vowing to make whoever stole the Venom symbiote suffer. Right on cue, Eddie's son Dylan -- current host of the Venom symbiote -- arrives and says that it's time for them to fight.
Solicit Synopsis
• Madeylne Pryor has plans for Eddie Brock and the symbiotes he can control – in this issue, she and her new ally CHASM bring them all to bear!
• SECRETS REVEALED! Unwittingly turned into a slathering and terrifying monster you might recognize, Eddie Brock's fears from the last year and Al, Ram and Bryan's entire saga stand fully realized in this turning point for the series!
