Carnage Everywhere!

In a single night, eight suspected Carnage killings had occurred across the United States. Aside from most of them taking place in states along the East Coast, the incidents had no apparent connection.

By the next day, the number had risen to fifteen.

"We don't have a single lead. Signal detection shows Carnage is everywhere, communicating everywhere. The transmissions between them are seriously interfering with our observations. You could say we know nothing about Carnage—we don't even know which one is the real Carnage."

When Peter arrived at the Bus team's safehouse, he found the team rushing in. Fitz nervously introduced Coulson to his equipment and the current situation. After hearing this, Skye muttered, "Why does it sound like Carnage cut himself up and mailed the pieces out?"

"Maybe that's exactly what happened, but we haven't found any trace of shipments."

Fitz was equally confused as he spoke. "A symbiote might be able to hide itself, but it can't hide inside inorganic matter. We checked every pet and animal shipment—unless it exists inside some very small animal, that is."

"Symbiotes can't parasitize small creatures. It shortens their lifespan. In fact, unless they're contained in a special environment, symbiotes without hosts die very quickly."

Peter mentioned that after arriving, then added, "Of course, Carnage is a little special. I can't guarantee that rule applies to him."

"So symbiotes need hosts large enough to accommodate them. At least we can rule out insects and the like."

As soon as Fitz finished speaking, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s alarm system went off again, providing the location of another similar incident. After seeing the map, Peter quickly began working at the computer, silently calculating something. Soon, he zoomed the map in on the area south of New York, roughly around Virginia and West Virginia.

"Let's assume the infection