New York was exceptionally peaceful today. Although a group of criminals had robbed a bank right on the main street and attempted a getaway in a heavy truck, they were swiftly intercepted by the two spider-powered heroes, Spider-Man and Silk. Regrettably, J. Jonah Jameson's broadcast for the day didn't involve questioning or slandering Spider-Man, leaving this peaceful day feeling slightly incomplete.
The bank robbers weren't supervillains either; they didn't even possess decent equipment, acting as if they were still living in the era before 2012.
"Thank you, Spider-Man."
The officer in charge of the pursuit wasn't Captain Stacy, but he was familiar enough with Peter. Peter glanced at the number of patrol cars that had joined the chase and noted something of interest. "You seem to be a bit shorthanded today, Officer."
"I'm glad you noticed, Spider-Man. Thanks for being on our side." Hearing this, the policeman couldn't help but start complaining. "That whole mess with Doctor Octopus exposed a lot of scum, and a huge number of bastards were fired—which I'm happy about—but the City Council turned around and cut our staff by 15%. Several precincts were shut down, and the jurisdictions were reshuffled. Now we have to cover a lot more ground with fewer people."
Peter didn't have much of a solution for the typical American political gridlock, so after a brief farewell to the officer, he turned to Cindy. "I'm guessing it's not the best time to go for coffee anymore, right?"
"The Empire State Building?"
Peter smiled; he knew exactly what Cindy meant. Every Spider-hero had their own unique spot to unwind—usually atop a New York landmark where they could enjoy some private time. Peter's personal sanctuary was known to almost everyone close to him, such as Cindy or Felicia.
Gwen probably knew too.
"Uh, actually, let's not. It's a bit too high up. Let's just wander around the city. By the way, do you know Lorry? He's an old man who keeps pigeons. I'm quite friendly with his birds; I can take you to meet them."
Beyond that, there were many other people. Peter didn't mind introducing Cindy, the Friendly Neighbor, to the neighbors he knew.
New York was exceptionally peaceful today. While Peter and Cindy were on their date, Flash and Venom were following the scent of blood to hunt down a killer. Flash had become exceptionally enraged after seeing the horrific crime scene and vowed to hunt the perpetrator down.
Meanwhile, Jessica continued to investigate the scene, searching for more useful clues. However, besides her, S.H.I.E.L.D. had specifically dispatched a team with deep experience in dealing with symbiotes to assist.
It was Coulson's "Bus" squad.
"This isn't a sight you see every day." Looking at the blood-soaked scene, Agent Ward offered Jessica a dry, emotionless word of concern. Jessica looked at the scene somewhat numbly. "I'm alright. I've drugged myself to make sure I don't lose my stomach."
"Very smart."
Ward offered a rare word of praise. In the entire Bus squad, only he and May could stomach this scene; the science duo certainly couldn't. Ward knelt by the body of the hostess, whose head had been split open, to examine the details of the deceased. He stood up and glanced at the dinner plate. "Looks like our killer is a big fan of the movie Silence of the Lambs."
"Maybe. By the way, the reports say that aside from Agent Venom and Spider-Man, you are the only one who can truly be called a symbiote host."
Jessica looked at Ward. Because of his long-term bond with Riot, Ward had obtained a symbiote codex, making him a key support asset for the Bus squad. "What does it feel like to be bonded with a symbiote?"
Ward fell silent for a moment, looking at Jessica before turning his gaze back to the scene. He picked up a used fork and said casually, "It's absolute hell, especially if you have a dark past. You'll dream. You'll dream about your past and how you became what you are."
"And then... it amplifies your desires, your thoughts, and every impulse. It starts to become you. All the moral shackles you have are devoured by desire—and then it devours you, until you don't exist anymore."
After listening to Ward, Jessica added, "But Spider-Man didn't lose himself."
"Well... perhaps for someone who wants to save the world, being controlled by a symbiote doesn't change much. A symbiote takes on the nature of its first host..."
Ward paused suddenly, then refined his wording. "It is heavily influenced by the first host. For example, Riot acquired my way of thinking and my fighting skills. So, if what happened here was truly done by a symbiote and its host together, this guy is going to be a nightmare to deal with."
The combination of a symbiote and its primary host is always a case of one plus one being greater than two. If a madman meets a symbiote, the symbiote will be infected by the madness, and the madman will become even more insane because of the symbiote.
From the files, the Cletus Kasady that Peter Parker suspected was far less insane than what these murders displayed. In other words, assuming he had been bonded with a symbiote, he was now more deranged than ever before.
And yet, no one could pin down his trail. Why?
"We haven't found any relevant information in all of New York—no surveillance footage, no witnesses, no related records. I'm almost starting to doubt if the enemy is even a symbiote."
Skye, feeling weak after throwing up, was assisting the team with her hacking skills from the Airbus. But as soon as she finished, Simmons and Fitz from the science team collectively rejected her theory. They spoke in unison over the comms channel: "Impossible. It's absolutely a symbiote."
Ward raised an eyebrow. "And the reason is?"
"Remember, Ward? When we were dealing with symbiotes, we discovered that these alien organisms emit a specific signal frequency to communicate. We've been trying to replicate that signal for transmission. If our enemy wasn't a symbiote, there should only be two signals at most—those being the responses from Spider-Man and Agent Venom."
"Did you pick up a third?"
"Actually, there's only one, but we can confirm that this signal originates from neither Agent Venom nor Spider-Man." Fitz explained as he adjusted his equipment for more precise triangulation. "And this signal is coming from within New York City. Right in Manhattan..."
"Once we have the approximate coordinates, we'll notify Agent Venom and find this guy."