Venom

Being trapped in a prison deep beneath the surface of the symbiote homeworld Klyntar might seem like a terrible fate to most, but Eddie Brock, quite familiar with being behind bars himself, was well aware that things were about to get far worse.

Up on the planet’s surface, mistakes had been made. Big mistakes. And now, the worst case scenario had finally played out. The primordial force of darkness known as Knull had broken free from his confinement within Klyntar’s core and was about to extinguish every trace of light — and with it, every trace of life — in the known universe. The only positive is now having his bond torn asunder, his own memories started to return.

Eddie tried hard not to blame himself. After all, there were many others who had unwittingly contributed to the chaos that had just unfolded. But not a single hero who had come to Klyntar to fight against Knull knew the King in Black better than Eddie did. As Venom, Eddie and his symbiotic partner should have been the ones leading their allies to a glorious victory. Instead, they ended up being torn apart by Hela — Knull’s new Queen in Black — and thrown into separate cells to rot. They had been removed from play right when they were needed the most. And now, the universe was doomed. Unless they managed to do something… fast…

Not long after Eddie had awoken in his cell, a few unfamiliar symbiotes had oozed their way between its bars. At first, Eddie thought they had been sent by Knull to devour him, but he soon realized that they were running from something. Eddie wondered what could possibly have inspired such fear in some of the most terrifying creatures in the galaxy. But as the heat beneath the surface of Klyntar began to climb, Eddie started to suspect what might have caused such panic.

Earlier, when he was still half of Venom, he had watched as the Phoenix Force — a powerful cosmic entity that had attempted to protect itself by taking the form of an egg — was broken into fragments. The intense heat released when that egg shattered ended up searing a hole through Klyntar’s surface, providing Knull the means to escape. Venom never saw what happened to the shards of the Phoenix Egg after it fractured. He was too busy being choked out by Hela at that moment. But now, based on the rapidly rising temperature and the trembling symbiotes surrounding him, he knew that one of the fragments must be close by. And if he wanted another shot at taking down Knull, the cosmic power contained within that shard might be his only hope.

One problem, though. Eddie’s symbiote wasn’t keen on that plan. Although they had been thrown in separate cells, they were still able to communicate via their deep symbiotic bond. The symbiote reminded Eddie that, by their nature, his species was afraid of fire. It was a primal fear that had been passed down through the generations after the very first symbiote — All-Black — was created in the flames of a Celestial forge. Eddie was well aware of his partner’s weaknesses. But he tried to reassure the symbiote that facing a little bit of flame now would be a hell of a lot better than the eternity of darkness that Knull was planning to unleash.

Eddie quickly reconsidered that notion, however, when a trail of flames started to quickly advance down the long corridor leading to his cell. The fire blazed brighter and hotter than any he had ever seen or felt. The Phoenix’s flames were the flames of creation itself, burning since the dawn of time. And no human, other than those chosen to be the Phoenix’s host, could hope to withstand their intensity.

Eddie didn’t want to be burned alive, so he grabbed ahold of the bars of his cell, tugging on them with all of his might in hopes of bending or breaking them. Since the entire planet was made from living symbiotic plasma, Eddie shouldn’t have been surprised when the bars suddenly grew sharp fangs that pierced through his hands like giant thorns. Eddie let out a howl, but the pain didn’t stop him. He kept pulling on the bars until they finally snapped and then fell limp to the ground in front of him.

Finally free from his cell, Eddie ignored his wounds and followed the voice screaming in his head until he reached another cell nearby. This one had a solid wall instead of bars, to prevent the symbiote inside from slithering its way out. But Eddie wasn’t about to let any obstacle keep him from reuniting with his partner. He looked down and saw that the other symbiotes had followed him out of his own cell. He reached his bloodied hands down toward them, and they knew what to do. Wrapping themselves around his fists like gloves, the symbiotes shielded Eddie’s hands from further damage as he repeatedly pummeled at the door to his partner’s cell. Finally, he managed to break through.

The other symbiotes were well aware of who their imprisoned sibling was, so they dared not try to forge their own bonds with Eddie. Instead, they simply dropped from his hands and made way for Eddie’s own symbiote to reclaim its proper place in their union. As the symbiote eagerly launched itself out of its cell and onto its human host, Eddie couldn’t help but smile. They were whole again. Together, they were Venom. But as much as Eddie wanted to revel in the moment, there was work to be done… and time was running out…

The tunnels beneath Klyntar weren’t just filling with flame, they were also trembling violently. It was clear that the entire planet was on the verge of annihilation due to the war with Knull taking place on the surface. Eddie tried to convince his partner that they needed to acquire greater power if they wanted to stop Knull, and that the fragment of the Phoenix Egg was by far their best option.

The symbiote protested, but Eddie refused to give up, eventually convincing his other half to reluctantly give his plan a try. Both of them knew that this could very well be their final mission, but they had no other choice. They took a deep breath and then raced at full speed down the corridor toward the source of the flames. They tried to ignore the searing pain as they ran through the scorching columns of fire, but it wasn’t long before they were overwhelmed by its cosmic fury. They knew they couldn’t handle much more… but if they were going to perish, at least they would be together.

As Venom collapsed to their knees, the fire surrounding them suddenly parted. There, directly in front of their dark form, appeared a gorgeous woman with hair as red as a summer sunset. At first Eddie thought he must be hallucinating, but as soon as the woman spoke, her powerful voice echoing in his mind, he realized that she was a manifestation of the Phoenix Force itself in human form.

The Phoenix told Venom that they had nothing to fear. She said that she was a force of creation, and as such, she loved all forms of life, even those born of the darkness. Furthermore, she had always been drawn to strong emotions in mortals… and in all her eons of existence, she had never felt a bond quite as strong as the one shared between Eddie and his symbiote. Their echoed the strength of her bond with Jean Grey, this time communicating to the symbiote, and how over many years, both of their connections with their chosen allies evolved beyond “host” to kinship. The Phoenix, despite a cosmic force with much greater concerns, admitted that she would never forgive herself if she let something so beautiful and pure be consumed by her own flames. She vowed that, as long as her fire still burned, they would be under her protection.

Venom smiled as the Phoenix faded from view. Eddie had promised to keep his symbiote safe from harm, but he wasn’t sure that his partner truly believed him. Now, he had all the proof he needed. As they rose to their feet again, Venom no longer felt any pain or fear. They just felt united determination to face the being from before the dawn of the universe in battle and end his dark reign once and for all. And now they had the means to do it. There, right in front of them, where the ethereal red-haired woman had just stood moments ago, was the fragment of the Phoenix Egg.

As Venom reached their hand out toward the shard, Eddie mentally paused and checked with his symbiote one last time to make sure that he was ready to do what had to be done. The symbiote told Eddie that, as long as they were together, he was ready for anything the universe could throw at them. But in truth, neither Eddie nor his partner were properly prepared for what came next.

The moment Venom grabbed ahold of the Phoenix fragment, their entire body was engulfed in cosmic flame. But this time, the fire didn’t burn from the outside. Instead, it burned from the inside with the intensity of a new star being born. And it felt sublime.

Together, Eddie and his symbiote had always been Venom… but now, bonded with the Phoenix Force as well, they were something entirely new and different. They were the perfect balance of dark and light. They were two primal forces, at odds since the dawn of time, yet now joined together in perfect unison. And most importantly, they were ready to take their new power to the throne of Knull and use it to send their god back into the oblivion he belonged.

If Venom had their way, the King in Black’s reign was about to come to its fiery end. But even with a portion of the Phoenix Force at their disposal, Venom wasn’t about to enter the fray unprepared. They remembered all too well what had happened when they tried to take on Hela barehanded. If they wanted to win this battle, they would need a weapon capable of holding its own against the symbiote’s great ad infinitum grandma…Knull’s fabled Necrosword…All-Black… and, thankfully, he knew exactly where find one…