Absolute Carnage: Symbiote of Vengeance #1 (2019)

In the village of Murra in Nueva Segovia, Nicaragua, Alejandra Jones - dressed in a hooded green cloak to hide that her head is a skull with flaming eyes - walks down the dusty main street, recalling how she had once almost damned the village by trying to erase sin from it. She pauses to examine bloody claw marks on a wall, noting that as penance for her unwitting misdeeds she became the host of a Spirit of Vengeance and has been fighting to defend the villagers from gangsters, militias, and others who would do them harm. Tracing the claw marks to a door, she notes that today something else has come to attack her village, opening the door to reveal a towering red-and-black monster with a white spiral on its forehead and a white emblem on its chest. In the process of slaughtering several villagers, Dark Carnage growls that she has something that he wants. At the Fadeaway Pub in Brooklyn, Danny Ketch holds the door open for a delivery man dropping off boxes of whiskey. As Ketch carries the boxes into the supply room, Johnny Blaze appears in his Ghost Rider form - causing Ketch to drop the box he's carrying. As Blaze tells him to go to Nicaragua and help Alejandra, Ketch pointedly ignores him and complains that the case of whiskey cost him $300 dollars. Irritated, Blaze tells him there are more important things than alcohol, but Ketch brusquely demands to be reimbursed. Blaze snaps at him to listen and reiterates his request for Ketch to go to Nicaragua and help Alejandra; Ketch retorting he has no idea who that is. As Blaze explains that Alejandra was a Ghost Rider who he had tried to mentor and failed, Ketch notes all the bottles were smashed and then tells Blaze to go himself. Blaze retorts that he can't, as he's presently the King of Hell and in the middle of investigating how its former ruler Mephisto escaped his prison. As Ketch mops up the spilled whiskey, Blaze asks him to do it as a favor as he couldn't stand it if Alejandra died because of what he did to her. Ketch begrudgingly agrees to Blaze's request, though he irritably tells him to find a way out of Hell because he's done being the Devil's puppet. Outside Murra, Ketch speeds past a parked semi truck - a mobile command center for the Cult of Knull - on his Hell Cycle. Clocking him at over 700 mph, one of the cultists considers alerting Dark Carnage before being reminded that their master told them to keep their distance. Arriving in Murra and reverting to human form, Ketch enters the El Concejal Alegre Cantina only to be held at gunpoint by its owner. Ketch explains that he's come looking for a friend and maybe a stiff drink, the owner shielding his wife and daughter, and demanding to if Ketch is affiliated with the "Beast of Blood and Oil" fighting their "Guardián Fantasma". Realizing he's talking about Alejandra, Ketch asks if she has a skull for a head and eyes made of fire. The cantina owner's daughter, Imara, says that everyone assumed the Guardián Fantasma had been a myth until she arrived to protect them from the monster attacking the village. Ketch informs them that he is an ally of Alejandra's, asking where they went, and Imara responds that the Guardián Fantasma's battle with the Beast of Blood and Oil took them out of the village and into the surrounding hills, glancing out the window and announcing they are back. Outside the cantina, Dark Carnage tells Alejandra to just let him kill her. Slashing at him with a hellfire-wreathed machete, Alejandra calls him a dog and snaps that she would never surrender to the likes of him. Watching through the cantina's window, Ketch tells the family to get themselves to safety. As the owner tells him he should do the same, Ketch transforms into his Ghost Rider form, terrifying the man. Outside, Alejandra snaps that Dark Carnage is nothing like Agent Venom, despite them both being bonded to Symbiotes. Dark Carnage snarls that Alejandra has a piece of the Venom symbiote inside her that he wants, but as she struggles to fend off his flurry of bladed tendrils Ketch intervenes and introduces himself to her - annoyed that she initially mistakes him for Blaze. Coiling his hellfire-infused chain around Dark Carnage's neck, Ketch slams him to the ground and snaps that he'd thought Cletus Kasady was dead. Firing a barrage of spikes, Dark Carnage snarls that gods can’t be killed, Ketch retorting that Kasady isn't a god -- dismissing him as a low-life serial killer wrapped in an alien leech. As Ketch tells Alejandra to hurry up and finish Kasady off, Dark Carnage sneers that he's just a man riding around on a demonic motorcycle, coiling tendrils around Ketch and breaking free of his chain. As Alejandra snarls that Dark Carnage will pay with his life for endangering her village, rushing at him with her machete, Dark Carnage tosses Ketch aside and impales her with an arm-blade. Lifting her off the ground, Dark Carnage rips out her spine and devours it, tossing her body aside. Remarking that each codex retains a bit of its host's personality and powers, temporarily letting him channel them, Dark Carnage is imbued with Alejandra's Spirit of Vengeance. Reveling in his newfound demonic powers, Dark Carnage conjures a symbiote-augmented chain and snares Ketch as he vengefully attacks, declaring his intent to test his new powers on everyone in the village. Alejandra awakens to find herself in Hell, Johnny Blaze standing over her and apologizing for being unable to save her. As Alejandra demands to know what's going on, Blaze explains that he's now the Devil and that she was killed; adding that a piece of the Venom symbiote had attached itself to the Spirit of Vengeance when they had both bonded to the Red Hulk, and transferred to Alejandra when the Spirit of Vengeance returned to her. Blaze remarks that he'd hoped Ketch would have been able to stop Dark Carnage from claiming her codex, but Alejandra cuts him off and demands to be sent back. Blaze remarks that he can't, Alejandra slapping him and saying that her people need her; adding that he is the Devil and sending minions to earth is something that archdemons do all the time. Blaze reminds her that he's new to the King of Hell schtick, adding that he can't just send her back into her old body since Dark Carnage ripped it apart. As Blaze considers letting her possess someone, Alejandra agrees to that and tells him to hurry. As night falls, the Cult of Knull cultists express irritation with their boss' bloodlust, grousing that Dark Carnage has what he came for and that they should move on to the next target instead of wasting time. Laughing, Dark Carnage transforms an arm into a massive axe and sneers that he thought the real Ghost Rider would have put up a better fight. Evading, Ketch grabs Dark Carnage before he can rip his arm free of the ground and uses the Penance Stare on him. Laughing maniacally, Dark Carnage throws him off and gloats that all Ketch did is remind him of how much he loves chaos and violence. As Ketch reels and clutches his head, Dark Carnage mockingly reminds him that symbiotes are immune to the Penance Stare and that he should have remembered that from when he tried it on Venom. Picking Ketch up and impaling him on an arm-blade, Dark Carnage asks why he thought the Penance Stare would work on him. In Hell, Blaze draws a pentagram on Alejandra's forehead, allowing her to possess Imara. Speaking through her, Alejandra urges Imara's family to stand and fight despite the girl's father's insistence that they hide and let the monsters kill each other. Outside, Ketch states that he thought this time it would work on Kasady owing to his sin-drenched soul, but Dark Carnage gleefully retorts that trying the same thing over and over while expecting different results is the definition of insanity. Conjuring a symbiote-augmented Hell-Cycle, Dark Carnage wraps a tendril around Ketch's leg and drags him along the ground. Conjuring his chain, Ketch jams the wheel of Kasady's "Carnage Cycle," causing it to crash. Climbing to his feet, Dark Carnage slashes at Ketch with axe-bladed arms and notes that he should have just left after getting Alejandra's codex, as once Knull is free he will annihilate everything anyway, but that since he's already there he may as well just kill everyone himself. A Molotov cocktail strikes him and he turns to see Imara and the other villagers pelting him with flaming bottles of alcohol. As Ketch realizes that Imara is possessed by Alejandra, the cultists' semi-truck barrels through the crowd and Dark Carnage leaps onto it. As Ketch prepares to chase after them, Alejandra tells him to let Dark Carnage go and asks who he is. Reverting to human form, Ketch introduces himself to her and apologizes for not being able to save her. Alejandra tells him that he kept her village safe from Dark Carnage's wrath, thanking him again before giving Imara back her body and returning to Hell. Dazed and confused, Imara wonders what happened and is told that the Guardián Fantasma needed her help, Ketch offering to protect the village in Alejandra's stead if they ever need it. Transforming into his Ghost Rider form, Ketch heads home. Inside the semi, Dark Carnage berates the leader of the cultists' surveillance team for interfering with his fight. The dissident cultist responds that he had already gotten what he'd came for and that the stolen power of Alejandra's Spirit of Vengeance is already fading, adding that if the Ghost Rider had succeeded in killing him than all the cult's efforts would have been for naught. Furiously ripping the dissident cultist in half, Dark Carnage snarls that he is a god and therefore unkillable, asking the other cultists if they understand they have no right to question him. As the cultists hurriedly respond, Dark Carnage asks who their next target is. In Hell, Blaze apologizes to Alejandra for not being able to buy her more time, noting that Imara was strong-willed and put up a fight to return to her body. Alejandra responds that she wouldn't have kept Imara's body for herself even if she could have, Blaze escorting her down a staircase and introducing her to the other Spirits of Vengeance.