Carnage: Black, White & Blood#1(2021)

Reeling from being blasted by Dagger, Carnage wonders how a bunch of light could hurt so much before snarling that he's not going to let himself be taken down by something so immaterial. As his symbiote covers him again, Carnage turns to see Cloak hovering over him and rebukes the Darkforce-wielding superhero's assertion that his reign of terror and violence ends today; sneering that violence is human nature. As Cloak tells Carnage to stand down, saying that the monstrous serial-killer's team of villains has been defeated and Shriek is under the heroes' control, Carnage compares his relationship with Shriek to Cloak's relationship with Dagger; mockingly asking if Cloak wants to hear another love story. Remarking that he's not sure where he first heard it -- having a voice in his head that whispers stories of warriors to inspire Cletus to greater acts of bloodshed -- Carnage takes Cloak as a captive audience and begins narrating the story of a Roman soldier named Lucius Marius, who was the sole survivor of a massive battle. Delirious and deranged, Lucius attributes his survival to a blessing from the god of war Mars and sets off to loot the city. Angered by the citizens not acknowledging his demands for food, drink, and women, Lucius rampages - compelled by a strange bloodlust - until he comes across a strange woman clutching a baby. Lucius grabs the baby from the woman intending to kill it, not noticing the woman grinning maliciously. Shocked and incredulous as the baby begins to undergo a transformation, Lucius demands to know what the creature he's holding is, and the woman replies that it's theirs. The baby is revealed to be a symbiote, which engulfs Lucius and bonds to him -- transforming him into a red-and-black monster. Hand-in-hand, Lucius and the woman exit the city and cross the battlefield, Lucius picking up a helmet and putting it on as the woman uses blood-magic to reanimate the corpses into an undead army. Saying that like Lucius he needs to find his better half, Carnage calls out to Shriek, who regains consciousness. Carnage mockingly sneers that the heroes are deluding themselves if they think they're saving Shriek from him when she's just as bad as him -- if not even worse. Carnage and Shriek re-affirm their love for one another, Shriek telling Cletus that no matter where or when they are they'll always find one another, but Doppelgänger alerts them to oncoming heroes as Demogoblin and Carrion arrive. As Spider-Man arrives and Cloak summons Captain America, Iron Fist, and Deathlok, Carnage sneers that the heroes believe in immaterial nonsense like hope and the light, but that he and his twisted family dwell in the darkness. As Cloak tells Dagger to blast Carnage and his team with her light, Carnage sneers that light isn't alive and can't feel, and it certainly isn't stronger than him or Shriek or their twisted love.