implants kick in and temporarily subdue him, allowing Flag to live. Gargan expresses fear of the control the symbiote possesses over him, yet he has become addicted to the raw unearthly power it brings to him and cannot even begin to imagine life without it, similar to a drug addict. An attack from Steel Spider and Sepulchre makes him lose control again, briefly becoming a huge monster once more, while Moonstone is incapacitated and thus cannot coordinate control of his electrical implants. Afterwards he returns to a normal form with no ill effects. He also bites off and devours Steel Spider's arm during a fight. Gargan is later ordered by Osborn to hunt down Namor. After shooting him with a Thunderbolts-supplied weapon, Gargan disables Namor by ripping off his feet-wings. The Sub-Mariner manages to render Gargan unconscious and then rips out the symbiote's tongue, although the symbiote easily makes a new one. Gargan begins to hallucinate that the symbiote is speaking to him, telling him to "feed (it)". He later attacks and devours a guard and declares that "the only way out of Thunderbolts Mountain is when I decide to let you die". It is later revealed that the psychic criminal Bluestreak is controlling Gargan's actions, although it is uncertain whether the symbiote was actually speaking to him or not. Venom goes up against the Swordsman, who stabs Gargan through the chest, using his powers to force the symbiote away from his sword. Gargan is wounded, but lives. After healing, he retains his monstrous form, rarely returning to his usual size. "New Ways to Die" Gargan reappears during the "New Ways to Die" story arc of The Amazing Spider-Man, no longer possessing the knowledge of Spider-Man's secret identity. Gargan and the Thunderbolts are called back to New York to capture Spider-Man. While on a search for the wall-crawler, Gargan's symbiote senses a former host nearby. Gargan suspects that it is Spider-Man but instead finds Eddie Brock at the F.E.A.S.T center (a soup kitchen). The Venom symbiote attempts to leave Gargan to re-bond with Brock, much to Gargan's (and Brock's) dismay. Upon making contact with Brock, his skin is shown to be caustic to his former symbiote, and as a white substance seeps out of his pores covering his body, Brock uses the Anti-Venom symbiote and battles Gargan. With some help from Spider-Man, Anti-Venom subdues Venom and nearly destroys the symbiote.