Carnage: Black, White & Blood#3(2021)

At the Magpie Club, a performance by heavy metal band Brain Flayer is turned into a bloodbath when Carnage attacks, sneering that he used to be the group's number-one fan as he impales the lead guitarist. Only the band's sound engineer, Blake Bellman, survives by playing dead as Carnage heaps the corpses of the audience members on top of him until Spider-Man arrives. Later, Bellman is interviewed by Daily Bugle reporter Ben Urich and explains that Spider-Man used the sound system to weaken Carnage's symbiote, allowing the Human Torch to subdue him with fireballs. Urich remarks that Bellman - who has been spattered by blood but is otherwise uninjured -- was lucky to have survived, agreeing to keep his name out of the press, and Bellman says he intends to treasure every remaining day of his life. At his apartment, Bellman reads Urich's article and is alarmed by Cletus Kasady snarling that he never leaves any survivors, just people who don't realize they're already dead. Coughing violently, Bellman spots some blood on his hand and is terrified when he sees some of the droplets have formed into the shape of Carnage's face. Going to the hospital for an ultrasound scan, Bellman asks his doctor if the scan revealed anything abnormal and is assured that he is in perfect health, only to panic as he sees Carnage's face in the monitor. The doctor doesn't see anything, however, and advises Bellman to seek therapy At a counsellor's office, Bellman's therapist says it sounds like he's suffering from survivor's guilt -- an explanation that makes more sense than his paranoia that pieces of an alien entity are inside his body. Bellman agrees, but a possible hallucination of the Carnage symbiote whispers in his ear that any other explanation sounds crazy. A month passes, and Bellman succumbs to his paranoia and begins hallucinating that the Carnage symbiote is speaking to him, mocking him as he researches Symbiotes and their weaknesses. Rigging up a large sound system, Bellman blares Brain Flayer's music in an attempt to exploit the symbiotes' weakness to sonics, the Carnage symbiote begging him to stop and screaming in pain before falling silent. Bellman's neighbors pound on the door to his apartment demanding he turn off the music, only for the building's fuse to blow out. As Bellman lies on the floor in the dark, the Carnage symbiote mocks his failure to kill it. Spotting a post-it note with "FIRE!" written on it, Bellman burns the apartment down. Having evacuated as many people as he could, Spider-Man spots Ben Urich interviewing one of the residents and laments not being able to save Bellman - who committed suicide by diving back into the flames. At Ravencroft, Ben Urich interviews Cletus Kasady, asking how he got Bellman to kill himself. Laughing, Kasady says he has no idea who Urich is talking about, which makes it even better.