Virus

Virus's History

The man who became known as Virus was left severely injured, blaming Eddie Brock and the Venom symbiote for his suffering. Scrounging an old suit of War Machine Armor, the man jury-rigged it with vibro-shock gauntlets, sonic emitters, and other anti-symbiote weaponry for the singular purpose of killing Venom; painting it in mockery of his nemesis. Augmenting his arsenal with an old Goblin Glider and Pumpkin Bombs, the man set out to take revenge, dubbing himself "Virus".

Virus ambushed Eddie and managed to separate him from the Venom symbiote, all the while berating him for having ruined his life and vowing to make him suffer for it. Virus nearly succeeded in killing Eddie by crushing his ribcage, but the Venom symbiote rescued its host and damaged Virus' suit. Forced to retreat using his Goblin Glider, Virus repaired his armor and followed Venom and Eddie's half-symbiote son Dylan Brock to a heavily-fortified warehouse owned by the Maker - an amoral incarnation of Reed Richards from Earth-1610.

Virus fought his way through the Maker's defences and attacked Venom once more, almost revealing his identity when Venom demanded to know who he was and why he was attacking him. Virus' wanton lobbing of Pumpkin Bombs destabilized the Maker's interdimensional portal machine, and when Venom and Dylan were sucked through Virus willingly followed - vowing to hunt Venom down no matter where he went.

Virus' armor allowed him to withstand the rigors of interdimensional travel, and by happenstance he arrived in the same universe that Venom and Dylan had - a version of Earth that had been conquered by symbiotes. Virus immediately attacked Venom, whose symbiote connected to the symbiote hive-mind - unlocking new powers like the ability to manifest an arm-cannon capable of firing powerful energy beams. Despite his armor being damaged, Virus continued to pursue Venom; earning the ire of the Avengers, who were in the process of trying to arrest Venom for his part in the fight.

While Venom took advantage of the distraction to escape with Dylan, Virus unsuccessfully attempted to talk his way out of a fight. Overwhelmed by the Avengers, Virus offered to surrender and be turned over to the police, but Captain America prepared to execute him instead. Angered by the loss of his quarry, Virus attacked Captain America with his sonic emitters, revealing him to be a symbiote in humanoid form. Before Virus could process what was occurring, he was brutally beaten by the Avengers and taken before their master, Codex.