Extreme Carnage: Alpha #1 (2021)

In the Caribbean Sea off the coast of the Isla de Huesos, a surviving piece of the Carnage symbiote separates from the remains of its host - devoured by the Symbiote Hive at the command of the newly apotheosized Eddie Brock - and bonds to a nearby butterflyfish. Coming across a great white shark, the symbiote transfers to it. Sometime later, the reborn Crimson Leviathan encounters a Somali pirate on a ramshackle boat and lunges out of the Indian Ocean at him. Washing ashore, the pirate - taken over by the symbiote - makes his way to a meeting between a Somali warlord and an American arms-dealer, smiling menacingly as red-and-black tendrils creep across his eyes. At a political rally, Senator Peter Krane delivers a speech to a crowd of supporters about how humanity must assert its place as the dominant species on Earth against threats such as mutants and Symbiotes, and the deportation of any and all extraterrestrials currently residing on Earth. Mocking the President's dedication of a memorial to the lives lost during Knull's invasion, Senator Krane announces his partnership with the Friends of Humanity. After the rally, Senator Krane meets with his advisors, who tell him that his streaming numbers are unprecedented. Krane's son Arthur objects to the hardline anti-extraterrestrial stance, asking if his father really wants to be known as the man who deported Thor or Hyperion. Senator Krane calmly tells his son to never express those sentiments out-loud again, saying that he just became the face of the anti-alien movement and is one extraterrestrial genocide away from becoming the next President. Stepping off an airplane, the arms-dealer who had attended the meeting in Somalia is hailed as "Doctor Miller" by a young man with blond hair, who remarks that he's younger than expected. The driver escorts "Doctor Miller" to his car, asking if he has any luggage. Replying that he doesn't, Doctor Miller remarks that he's ravenously hungry. As the driver pulls out of the airport parking lot, he asks if "Doctor Miller" didn't eat on the flight over, "Doctor Miller" remarking that some of the flight attendants' brains got in his mouth but that he'd hardly call that a meal. Turning on some music, "Doctor Miller" ignores the unnerved driver until the driver gets a text message, asking if something is wrong. The driver replies that the message is from the real Doctor Millar, the arms-dealer turning up the volume on the music, his teeth lengthening into fangs as he says in a distorted voice that that's bad news indeed. Blood spatters the windows of the car and the bloodied driver throws open the door and desperately tries to jump out, but is pulled inside by red-and-black tendrils. As the car's door slams shut, blood pours out onto the road. In Manhattan, the recently-resurrected Flash Thompson has secured employment helping unload supplies for a local shelter from a truck. Flash asks one of his coworkers, a fellow vet named Hank, how his wife Tessa is doing. Hank replies that Tessa never liked his military service and is glad to have him home, adding that while he likes working for the shelter he doesn't find it very fulfilling and is thinking about going into the security sector. Prompted by Flash, Hank remarks that while the military wasn't for him he got used to the intensity and finds unloading boxes boring by comparison, saying he wants to feel like he's doing something that matters by protecting people. As Flash says he'll keep an eye out for any job openings, he suddenly staggers as he hears the song "Doctor Miller" had been listening to in his head. Flash suddenly finds himself in a blood-soaked car being driven by "Doctor Miller", who speaks to him in Cletus Kasady's voice. Flash protests that Cletus is dead, but "Doctor Miller" laughs and says there's only dead men in the car. Glancing into the back seat, Flash is horrified to see the mostly-eaten corpse of the driver. "Doctor Miller" mockingly says Flash knows better than anyone the insatiable bloodlust and predatory appetite that comes with being the host of a symbiote. Red tendrils latch onto Flash and start spreading across his body as "Doctor Miller" mockingly asks if Flash ever gave in and ate someone. Clawed fingers bursts out of the arms-dealer's mouth and Carnage emerges, telling Flash to give in and join the rest of his family. Transforming into Agent Anti-Venom, Flash snarls that he'll put Carnage in the ground once-and-for-all the next time they meet. Coming to his senses, Flash finds himself transformed and about to impale Hank on an arm-blade. Fleeing in horror at what he nearly did, Flash runs into Iron Man, who says he didn't come to pick a fight but rather needs Flash's help with a serious oncoming threat. At a Friends of Humanity base, the arms-dealer sits in a chair in the shadows. As trio of Friends of Humanity security guards approach, Carnage's voice expresses disappointment they're not Senator Krane. The lead enforcer snaps that Krane doesn't just meet with anybody, let alone a middleman for Alchemax, and angrily demands to know why there weren't any Guardsmen present at the rally. Revealing that the arms-dealer is dead, Carnage remarks that he'd wanted to have a little face-to-face chat with Senator Krane before making him fully understand his situation, but that the three security guards will do instead. Emerging from the shadows, Carnage butchers two of the men, quipping that his "meat suits" don't last as long as they used to. Grabbing onto the leader, Carnage remarks he was hoping to get personally acquainted with Krane but that his minion will have to do instead. Inviting Flash into his lab, Iron Man remarks that it's fully modular and he changes it up whenever a new crisis occurs, saying it's currently capable of things like nanotech integration and consciousness transfer. As Flash asks what the current crisis is, Iron Man says it's right up his alley and opens a door to reveal his symbiote-infused armor snarling while attached to a set of cables. As Iron Man says he calls it the Extrembiote -- a fusion of Extremis and living abyss -- Flash warns him that he can't control it, at least not long-term. As Iron Man protests that Flash controls his symbiote just fine, Flash reminds Iron Man that symbiotes are living creatures with minds and wills of their own, and says that his relationship with his symbiote is one of mutualistic cooperation. As Flash worries that Iron Man is plotting to turn him into an "Extremebiote", Iron Man says that he isn't and that he's been keeping track of global symbiote activity in the wake of Knull's invasion -- which was how he found Flash in the first place. Calling up a series of gristly images, Iron Man says that one week prior the wreckage of a Somali pirate boat was found with only bits of flesh belonging to its crew. Not long after, a Somali warlord and his militia were massacred and devoured, with an Alchemax arms-dealer arriving earlier that day on a plane whose crew had been butchered and eaten. Flash tells Iron Man that Carnage is back, but Iron Man dismisses this as Cletus Kasady is dead. Flash explains that a symbiote host's consciousness is stored within the Hive-Mind as a codex, and that when a host has a particularly strong bond with a symbiote their codex can be imprinted on the symbiote even after they die; adding that no host has ever had a stronger bond to their symbiote than Cletus Kasady. When Iron Man asks how he can be sure Cletus is behind the trail of bodies, Flash tells Iron Man about his earlier confrontation with Carnage inside the Hive-Mind, saying that even now he can feel Cletus' bloodlust pulling on his symbiote. Hypothesizing that Cletus' connection to Knull has made him stronger than ever, Flash says that Carnage is planning something big, which Iron Man says he has a theory about. Saying that Earth's heroes have managed to overcome every major threat while somehow keeping the majority of Earth's residents oblivious to their near-total demise, Iron Man says that Knull's invasion changed everything by showing the whole world how dangerous symbiotes can be. Iron Man informs Flash that anti-extraterrestrial sentiment is at an all-time high, and people like the Friends of Humanity are pushing to have every non-terrestrial inhabitant of Earth rounded up and deported - if not summarily executed - and that nobody's stoking the fire more than Senator Peter Krane. Iron Man worries that Carnage is aiming to assassinate Krane in order to instigate total chaos, telling Flash to follow the pull he felt earlier, find out what Carnage is up to, and keep Senator Krane safe. Meanwhile, the Friends of Humanity security guard - controlled by Carnage - makes his way to Krane's hotel room and knocks on the door, Krane obliviously welcoming him inside. The next day, Flash attends one of Senator Krane's political rallies. As Senator Krane introduces his son to the crowd and rants about the President's shortcomings, Carnage's voice speaks in Flash's head, sneering that they were all wondering when he'd show up. Accidentally speaking out loud and drawing the attention of bystanders, Flash asks what Carnage means by that and demands to know where he is, Carnage sneering that he's everywhere and has been making a Hive of his own. As people recognize Flash from the recording of his fight with Alchemax's Guardsmen, Flash senses the bloodlust of hostile symbiotes all around him. Transforming into Agent Anti-Venom, Flash flees Alchemax's security forces and informs Iron Man that his cover's been blown, that Carnage's symbiotes are everywhere, and that Carnage has likely already taken over Krane. Watching as Agent Anti-Venom flees, Krane sneers that once the media learns that a symbiote was at his rally, frightened people will flock to his cause in droves. As Hank walks down the street that night, he's approached by Flash, who asks if he meant what he said about wanting to protect people. When Hank asks what he means, Flash says that something major is going down - worse than any battle they fought overseas - and he's putting together a team to handle it and needs people he can trust. Hank accepts, and Flash tells him to apply for Senator Krane's security detail. On a televised interview the following day, Senator Krane tells a reporter that the Friends of Humanity were never an anti-mutant hate-group, but that they were about the survival of humanity in the face of threats that could easily render it extinct - which means driving out any and all alien threats and defending their borders. Smiling maliciously, Krane remarks that next month the whole world will see how many of his supporters they are and what they're fully capable of.