This Land is MY Land

Colorado

The town of Doverton, Colorado is a sleepy American town that has just gained a new citizen. At the Ralsby Meat Packing Plant, one of the employees discovers that something has stripped the meat off all the recently slaughtered cows. He finds an intruder eating raw meat. This man is Cleatus Kasady and all the blood makes him feel at home. He decides he’s going to take it all and transforms into Carnage.

Four Days Ago

Officer Eric Morrell rushes home in a panic. He tells his wife Hanna and daughter Stephanie to get away from the sink because something is coming through the water. That’s when he learns that his son Cole is giving their baby a bath. He rushes to the bathroom but is too late as symbiotic material has come out of the drain and bonded to his two youngest children. As Cole pleads with his father to help him, he is soon taken by the symbiote’s homicidal personality and attacks his father.

Sometime later, Sherriff Bryan O’Neil appears in the neighboring county with a message from Cletus Kasady. First responders discovered that Carnage cuts his demands into O’Neil’s flesh. This message is quickly relayed to the US Emergency Response Center. According to the message, Carnage is asking for Doverton to be made the capital of a sovereign symbiotic state. When the commanding General Brandon Duggan asks what their plan is, he is informed one is already in motion.

At Avengers Headquarters, Spider-Man is trying to convince Wolverine to let Hawkeye shoot an apple off the top of his head when they are interrupted by Captain America. He tells Spider-Man that Carnage is back and they need to act now as there is no time to mobilize a full team. Spider-Man insists that they bring the Thing along with them because he has access to something they will need.

Back in Colorado, Carnage is spending time sitting on the porch with an elderly couple. He finds the “easy life” is harder than it looks. He then orders the woman, Martha, to get him another glass of lemonade. Cletus then walks out into the street and looks up into the sky. The military helicopters that have been present since he made his declaration are long gone. When Martha comes out with the lemonade, he tells her to get her fine china since he’s expecting they’ll have a company by this afternoon.

By this time, the Avengers are crossing the Kansas/Colorado border in a Quinjet. As Captain America plots a course for the outskirts of Doverton. The Thing is ready for a fight, figuring his sonic blaster will take down Carnage in no time. Wolverine doesn’t understand why they are using stealth. Spider-Man explains they have to go in quiet otherwise Carnage might start killing civilians. When they walk into town the locals are just milling about saying the phrase “big big smiles” over and over. That’s when Carnage comes out to greet them. When Spider-Man demands to know what Cletus has done, he informs the heroes that he has settled down.

Seeing a baby in Kasady’s arms, Hawkeye prepares to take a shot, but Captain America orders him to stand down. Cletus explains that he has the entire town under his control and that his symbiote has grown after it consumed four hundred head of cattle. suddenly, the Carnage symbiote erupts out of a manhole cover. The Thing tries to blast it with his sonic blaster but it is so massive now it easily swarms the Avengers. Spider-Man tries to warn his teammates not to let the symbiote touch them but it is too late. Cletus changes into Carnage and grabs Spider-Man in a headlock and tells the web-slinger that bringing his friends was a big mistake because their conflict was between the two of them, or at least it was. Spider-Man then watches in horror as his allies are forcibly bonded to the Carnage symbiote.

At the US Emergency Response Center, their connection with the Avengers goes dark. They get word from the President asking for a contingency plan. General Duggan tells him to send word back for the President to relax, as he has four of them and pulls up the file on Project: Liquidate.[1]

Recurring Characters

Carnage, Captain America, Hawkeye, New Avengers (Spider-Man, Wolverine, Thing), Spider-Doppelganger, Eric Morrell, George Miller, Brandon Duggan, Hannah Morrell, Stephanie Morrell, Cole Morrell, unnamed Morrell infant

Continuity Notes

1. The Project: Liquidate file shows a number of symbiotes and their current status. They are:

   • Venom: His identity is listed as “classified” however we’ve already learned that the current host of the Venom symbiote is Flash Thompson in Amazing Spider-Man #651.1. He is listed as AWOL here. This story takes place after Venom left government service to become a member of the Secret Avengers circa Venom (vol. 2) #15.

   • Toxin: Aka Patrick Mulligan. There is no status listed here. However, we’ll soon learn that Mulligan was killed Venom (vol. 2) #13 and the symbiote is being contained in Las Vegas.

   • Hybrid: Aka Scott Washington who’s symbiote is actually four separate symbiotes that were forcibly merged together in Venom: Along Came a Spider #2. We’ll learn that Washington was killed by Eddie Brock in Venom (vol. 2) #15. The symbiotes survived and have been separated as we’ll see next issue.

   • Scorn: Aka Tanis Nieves. She was last seen in Carnage #1-5. She is listed as being in training. We'll also see her again next issue.

   • Anti-Venom: Aka Eddie Brock, who is listed as inactive. This is because Brock sacrificed his Anti-Venom symbiote to create a cure for the spider-plague that infected New York during the Spider-Island crisis. See Amazing Spider-Man #666-673.