A young Eddie Brock sits in the dark waiting room of the hospital, visibly anxious. A voice calls out to him, and as he looks up he sees Mary Brock sitting beside him, which she wasn't a second prior. Standing up, Mary tells him that he can't ignore this forever and offers her hand, saying she knows he's scared but that she's there for him. Taking it, they walk down a corridor towards the cancer ward - Eddie not noticing the monstrous shadow that Mary is casting on the wall. Inside the cancer ward, Eddie sees his father standing over a withered man with fanged teeth and solid black eyes; the walls and floor covered in living darkness oozing from the man's body. Calling himself "Uncle Dan," the withered man assures Eddie he won't hurt him. Eddie suddenly ages to adulthood, asking what's wrong with Dan; and Mary turns to smile maliciously at him, her eyes turning solid black as she says that he's infected with the Abyss. Eddie protests that this isn't how he remembers things happening; Carl assuring his son that everything will be alright, that they're family, and that he will look after Eddie. As the world spider-webs with cracks, Eddie recoils in shock and demands to know where he is.

In reality, the Maker probes at the living darkness cocooning Eddie's body, muttering to himself. Standing in the doorway, Dylan Brock asks if his half-brother is alright. The Maker tells Dylan that Eddie is decidedly not OK, as he has cancer... frowning and uncertainly muttering "... I think." to himself. When Dylan expresses confusion, the Maker states that given Eddie's medical history even a baby could diagnose his cancer's resurgance, but the Venom symbiote is repelling his efforts to assess Eddie's condition - coiling tendrils around his equipment and crushing it. The Maker tells Dylan to get out, as he intends to remove the Venom symbiote from Eddie and the shock and withdrawal could potentially kill him. Musing at the irony of killing Eddie to find out what's killing him, the Maker dons a pair of high-tech gauntlets wreathed in green energy and smiles sadistically as he quips that that's the burden of science.

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