Appearing in 1st story
Featured Characters:
- Iron Man (Tony Stark)
- Spider-Man (Peter Parker)
- Scorn (Tanis Nieves) (First appearance as Scorn) (Name revealed)
Antagonists:
Other Characters:
- Michael Hall
- God (Yahweh) (Invoked)
Races and Species:
- Humans
- Symbiotes
- Mutants
- Living Fractals
- Dogs (Mentioned)
Locations:
Items:
- Hall Industries' Symbiote Prosthetics
- Bleeding Edge Armor
- Spider-Man's Suit and Web-Shooters
- Iron Ranger Armor (Assimilated by Carnage) (Destruction)
Synopsis for 1st story
As he is escorted onto the roof of the Hall Industries corporate HQ, Michael Hall asks his security personnel if this is necessary, and is informed that Carnage has killed and assimilated the Iron Rangers using the symbiote biomass integrated into their armor. Getting onto a helicoptor, Hall remarks that he'll need to issue a statement, but told that he'll need to stay quiet to maintain plausible deniability and avoid legal action. Asking if it's really that bad, he sees Spider-Man and Iron Man struggling against Mass Carnage, Shriek, and Doppelgänger down below and is told not to look since he'll have to pretend he was never there anyway.
As the symbiote-augmented Shriek lovingly greets Mass Carnage, he tells her he's hunting for Mike Hall and intends to get revenge for separating him from his symbiote. As Spider-Man and Iron Man recover from her blast, Mass Carnage and Shriek bicker like an old married couple - Shriek expecting him to complement her new look, but Mass Carnage wanting to get back to fighting Iron Man and Spider-Man. Transforming his arms into blades, Mass Carnage tells her to entertain herself torturing civilians before apologizing to Iron Man and Spider-Man, saying he needs to make this quick. Preventing Spider-Man from escaping, Mass Carnage tells him to give up Hall's location or he'll use the Iron Rangers' symbiote-augmented biotechnology to level Manhattan. Projecting numerous repulsor cannons from his Bleeding Edge suit, Iron Man interrupts and derides the Iron Rangers' suits as cheap knock-offs of his own before blasting Mass Carnage through a wall.
As she regains consciousness, Dr. Tanis Nieves relishes the silence of her own mind - free from the mewling of the infant symbiote that had been trying to bond to her. Then she becomes aware of the wanton violence surrounding as a result of Shriek, who she had fought so hard to defend, and for the first time wishes she had let the doctors lobotomize her. Spider-Man asks Iron Man to deal with Mass Carnage while he takes care of Shriek, but Mass Carnage interrupts and slams Spider-Man to the ground. As Iron Man rockets towards him, Mass Carnage sneers that he should let Spider-Man fight his own battles, but is cut off as Iron Man plunges his arms into the symbiote and says he doesn't do banter. Iron Man's Bleeding Edge armor interfaces with the Iron Rangers' biotech and he prepares to upload a virus that will transfer control of them to him, but before he can do so the Carnage symbiote sends biofeedback back up the data stream and into the Bleeding Edge suit. Horrified as he realizes that Carnage's insatiable bloodlust is infecting his suit - and through it his mind - Iron Man aborts the hack and vomits into his suit. Mass Carnage stomps on Iron Man, sneering that if he wants to snort madness he shouldn't start with the hard stuff.
Picking Dr. Nieves up using her symbiote-arm, Shriek gloats that she's going to make her psychotherapist watch as she sends the people of New York into a feral frenzy. Dr. Nieves repeats the word "No" with increasing vehemence, not talking to Shriek but to the newborn symbiote, which is afraid of Shriek and wants to return to its original host. Iron Man struggles to purge Carnage's bloodlust from his suit's AI, Mass Carnage taking full advantage of the distraction to pummel him. In an attempt to distract Carnage and buy Iron Man time, Spider-Man offers to let Mass Carnage kill him first, but Mass Carnage assimilates Iron Man before turning to confront him. Nearby, a horde of feral civilians attack a school bus full of children, Shriek reminiscing about a similar incident during her first rampage when she caused the civilians to commit cannibalism. As Shriek gloats, Dr. Nieves finally says yes and the symbiote transfers to her, turning purple and metallic silver. Calling herself Scorn and speaking with a robotic affection, Dr. Nieves grabs Shriek by the throat and lifts her into the air. Doppelgänger lunges towards her, but Scorn kicks it aside and it dashes over to Mass Carnage. Scorn forces Shriek to her knees and forces her mouth open, gripping her hair and ordering her to unleash her sonic scream on Mass Carnage and Doppelgänger. Shriek refuses, trying to appeal to Dr. Nieves' caring nature by pretending to be Frances again, but Scorn doesn't buy it and stabs Shriek's face with her claws, causing her to unleash a full-force blast.
Iron Man bursts out of Mass Carnage, regaining control of his suit. With Mass Carnage destabilized by the sonic blast, Spider-Man and Iron Man rip off his limbs before Spider-Man impales him through the chest with a broken parking meter - intent on putting an end to him once and for all. Mass Carnage melts into a puddle of symbiote biomass, revealing that Carnage had already escaped at some point and was using his symbiote's new ability to control pieces of itself to trick them. Saying that Carnage is gone, Scorn approaches dragging an unconscious Shriek by her hair. Retracting the symbiote into her body, Dr. Nieves tells them that the dog she'd fought so hard to keep when she was six had turned out to be vicious and mauled her brother, teaching her the lesson that some things need to be put down. Iron Man asks if she's OK, but Spider-Man says she's become the host to Carnage's spawn and will never be OK again.
Iron Man has Dr. Nieves taken to the Avengers Tower for observation while he and Spider-Man unsuccessfully try to locate Carnage. Shriek is left in a coma, charges for the murder of the two Hall Tech guards pending upon her awakening. Spider-Man visits Dr. Nieves hoping the Scorn symbiote can be used to find Carnage, but a dislike of him runs in the family. Tony Stark builds a case against Michael Hall, whose legal team says went into hiding for his own protection and that the threat Carnage poses is minimal. Spider-Man grimly notes that they didn't defeat Carnage - he just decided he had more important things to do than kill them.
At a safehouse in the desert, Cletus Kasady sits in a chair, savoring Michael Hall's screams as Doppelgänger eats him alive, and planning his big comeback.
Solicit Synopsis
THE BEST SELLING SERIES CONCLUDES!
Cletus Kasady is back in the Carnage symbiote and deadlier than ever! Spider-Man and Iron Man’s most brutal battle comes to its fatal conclusion! Carnage has been abused, exploited and tortured by his captors... and he’s out for revenge! Bodies will pile up and gore will fly if Spidey and Iron Man can’t stop Cletus... and they can’t stop him without the help of another mysterious symbiote...