Over the next few days, Peter reached out to the Avengers, the Fantastic Four, and the X-Men, requesting their assistance in gathering any information that could help in the fight against Carnage. Everyone seemed relatively free lately, so a series of investigations into Carnage was launched.
After all, while supervillains were a dime a dozen, psychopathic serial killers were a rare breed. It was truly a subversion of the natural order.
However, so far, there had been no further activity.
"I'm starting to wonder if Carnage just packed up and left. Maybe he's not even in New York anymore and has no intention of killing me or Venom," Peter lamented as he crouched on a rooftop, eating a serving of decidedly unauthentic takoyaki. He wasn't in the New York of Earth-616, but rather at the headquarters of the Spider-Society. Theoretically, the Society had plenty of Japanese Spider-Men, yet they couldn't manage to produce a single decent batch of takoyaki.
Before his disappearance, Cletus had committed four murders in New York. The incident at the funeral home had the highest body count and was the most hurried. In the other locations, while the victim count was only two or three, the sheer brutality and "artistic merit" of the scenes were much deeper. One could say those better reflected Cletus's true killing style.
Not that anyone was likely to appreciate it.
"Are you sure you want to talk about this while you're eating?"
Gwen crouched beside Peter and shrugged. "Anyway, the news has been suppressed for now. My dad said he was genuinely sickened by that case for a long time. Then more cases popped up afterward, and to make matters worse, he's still the one in charge of them."
"Look at it this way—Uncle George is due for another promotion, isn't he?"
Things in New York were just that messy. After the NYPD fired 23% of its officers and downsized by another 15%, the purge of high-ranking officials continued. More and more police chiefs and high-ranking officers were being found to have engaged in power-for-money deals with New York's various underground factions. They were promptly ousted by the city government—no doubt because they hadn't given the mayor a big enough cut.
This led to another vacuum in the NYPD leadership, requiring a large number of capable and sturdy officers to fill the gaps. Although George Stacy had been promoted less than a year ago, his integrity and excellent ability meant his name was back on the promotion list.
Or rather, the NYPD was simply running out of people.
"Let's... change the subject. Damn that Carnage."
Gwen grumbled. She was about to bring up what Cindy had intended to mention during their last date. If possible, they really wanted to go out and have some fun. By "out," they meant visiting different parallel universes. In the infinite expanse of the multiverse, the eras inhabited by the Spider-Totems varied wildly.
If not for Carnage, they could go to the 16th century to see a performance by Shakespeare, visit medieval castles and knights, or head to the American West in the 19th century.
Because of Carnage, all those plans had gone up in smoke.
In reality, Peter's visit to the Spider-Society headquarters was also for Carnage. On one hand, he wanted to gather intelligence from the Spider-Men who had fought Carnage to see if there were any effective methods. On the other hand, he wanted to see if any Spider-Man had been to Klyntar so he could directly learn how the symbiote hive-mind network functioned.
Additionally, he had previously discovered a note in the Kamar-Taj library stating that "the expansion of the Living Abyss and the Web of Destiny across the multiverse share similarities." He planned to see how the Society's research on the Web of Destiny was progressing and if they could be of any help.
"I have an update."
Miguel approached as he spoke. Peter, who was mid-takoyaki, quickly gulped it down. "Yeah? What is it? Is the model finished? Also, you guys really need to find a proper takoyaki chef. In an infinite multiverse, is there really no Spider-Man who knows how to cook takoyaki? We even have a J. Jonah Jameson Spider-Man."
Is your problem with J. Jonah Jameson or the lack of good takoyaki...
Miguel sighed inwardly at Peter Parker before continuing. "Regarding the model of the Web of Destiny, that's not something that can be finished easily. Although you said the Web of Destiny and the symbiote consciousness network are very similar, the Web was not designed for a hive mind. It involves a massive amount of fine-tuning."
Miguel first shut down Peter's first idea before addressing the second. "We do have several Spider-Men who have been to Klyntar, and it's a... decent enough place. However, once they heard you have Knull's consciousness sealed inside you and that you're carrying Anti-Venom, they declined your invitation. So, we'll have to rely on local Spider-Men to help gather the data."
"Well..."
Peter hadn't entirely ruled out that outcome, but he was still a bit disappointed. He quickly recovered, though. "Wait, if you're putting it that way, there must be some good news, right?"
"Well, there is some news, though it's not entirely good."
Miguel looked at Peter. "Do you remember the so-called Spider-Gods? Some of the most terrifying entities in the Spider-Army?"
"I know them. What about them?"
"In the multiverse, there exist some 'Carnage Spider-Men' and 'Venom Spider-Men.' If these Carnage Spider-Men fail to resist the corruption, they become berserk symbiote warriors. But that's not all. Among the Spider-Gods, there is a 'King in Black' Spider-Man..."
Peter instantly connected the dots.
"So when the Spider-Army went to recruit these Venom or Carnage Spider-Men and they agreed, that King in Black Spider-Man gave them enhanced power. Those who were enhanced began to exhibit the traits I mentioned regarding Carnage."
After this long explanation, Peter finally understood what Miguel was getting at. "And these guys definitely won't run away like Carnage when they start losing. As long as we take down one of them, we can get a proper sample—and liberate a universe in the process."
Miguel nodded.
"Yes. We have a few candidate universes. Take a look. Whether you go or not is up to you."
Peter looked at the list of universes. He didn't recognize most of them, except for one: a universe that had gradually become irritable and fallen into darkness during a symbiote crisis, eventually choosing to embrace the symbiote entirely.
Peter knew this world; it was from a game called Spider-Man: Web of Shadows.
"That's the one."