"Spider-Man, Cletus has taken control of several NASA employees ahead of time. They've locked the rocket's launch sequence, and we can't stop the liftoff."
Coulson delivered the first piece of bad news while Peter was still standing on the rocket, locked in continuous combat with a relentless swarm of symbiotes. "I have to say, that's not even the most troublesome part. Can you guys determine the blast radius of this rocket?"
"We can't determine the blast radius yet; you'd better not try that."
Having guessed Spider-Man's intent, Fitz immediately reached a conclusion and warned him. Although this was an unmanned launch and they had already begun evacuating nearby personnel, there were too many variables. He couldn't be sure how much chaos the fuel from this launch would cause if it exploded.
Furthermore, there was an even more nagging issue—what if even an explosion of this scale couldn't kill Carnage?
"Fine, let me think!" Peter slammed a fist into Carnage's face, but this time, the Carnage was decapitated instantly. In its place, more and more Carnage copies began to coat the surface of the rocket. These things were respawning faster and faster, like overworld mobs in a video game.
And it wasn't the kind of situation where they became weaker as they mass-produced like typical fodder; it was more like late-game elite mobs in a Soulslike game being as numerous as common enemies—though Anti-Venom still provided instant kills regardless.
However, according to the system's detection, none of these were Cletus himself. The guy was definitely hiding inside the rocket.
"Alright, how fast can you guys regain control of the launch pad and modify the trajectory? There should be about 120 seconds from liftoff until the fairing separates. Can you do it?"
Coulson glanced at the scene. Ward, May, and Spider-Woman were out in full force wearing their new equipment. Their protective gear utilized modified Shocker-style tech; as long as they made melee contact with a symbiote, they could completely disintegrate it. But the sheer number of symbiotes was overwhelming; it was unlikely they could settle this in a short time.
"We're doing our best. Fitz and Skye are remotely accessing the system to modify the flight path. What are you thinking?"
"Launch this rocket into the Atlantic!"
Launch the rocket into the Atlantic? Coulson froze for a second before understanding Spider-Man's plan. "I've got it, but... what about you? How are you going to dodge an attack covering such a massive area?"
"I have my ways."
Peter quickly cut the communication. Currently, almost the entire surface of the rocket was covered in a dense layer of red symbiote. A viscous substance resembling blood vessels surged across the rocket's exterior, making one wonder if the thing could even launch normally. What Peter had to do was very simple: he pressed both hands against the rocket's surface and began using Anti-Venom to purify these symbiotes.
Carnage quickly emerged to stop him. Four or five Carnage copies lunged out from inside the rocket simultaneously, manifesting various sharp weapons to hack at Peter. Peter used his mind to control the nano-suit, instantly sprouting four mechanical claws from his back. He nimbly blocked the attacks of the Carnage grunts while methodically carrying out the purification. In just a few dozen seconds, the entire surface of the rocket was cleared of symbiote biomass.
But the interior was another story. Peter wasn't confident he could make Anti-Venom spread that far, so he backhanded a Carnage grunt, flooring it.
"Ignition in 60 seconds, Spider-Man! We still haven't finished hacking the system!" Coulson stood within the Bus base, watching the chaos at the NASA launch center. "We might not be able to adjust the trajectory through the system. It's up to you."
"Fantastic—all I have to do is manually tilt a rocket capable of sending me into space to the right angle, and everything is solved."
Coulson listened to Spider-Man's self-deprecating sarcasm with some helplessness, then had Fitz transmit the calculated data to Peter. "Fitz has already calculated how to pry the rocket. You need to move it according to the tutorial. I believe you can do it, Spider-Man."
"Yeah, I believe I can do it too," Peter said as he eliminated the last Carnage grunt. "Otherwise, we'll be looking at Carnage infecting the whole world—'Maximum Carnage.' I don't like the sound of that."
He glanced down, then continued to accelerate his actions, climbing as high as possible before sticking to the rocket's surface. Taking advantage of the fact that it hadn't launched yet, he called out to Cletus: "Cletus? Why don't you come out and talk? You have no idea what I've prepared for you, and I'm sure you're going to love it—"
A massive thrust appeared directly beneath the rocket as the boosters ignited. The powerful force of gravity almost flung Peter off. He realized the rocket had ignited and begun its ascent; from now until the fairing separated, he had only 118 seconds to deal with Carnage.
If he couldn't kill Cletus within these 118 seconds, Carnage's tissue would likely fall to some unknown corner of the Earth once the fairing separated, creating an even more troublesome situation.
And now, if Cletus still wouldn't come out, Peter would have to try...
Cletus appeared. More accurately, Carnage appeared. The terrifying monster seeped out from directly beneath the rocket, tightly binding Peter's limbs. Then, a humanoid figure coalesced—a snarling, two-meter-tall Carnage stood right there on the rocket as it accelerated into the sky, looking down at Peter.
"You really are a naive fool, Spider-Man. I knew you'd chase me, so I prepared this trap specifically for you." As Carnage's face receded, it revealed Cletus's face. He looked at Peter mockingly. "Of course I know you could return to the ground with a single magic portal, which is why I set up this situation that you must resolve. And before you can finish me off, I'll finish you!"
He didn't strike immediately; instead, he performed a backflip to dodge a punch swung by Spider-Man. He was well aware that the other party could easily dispose of standard symbiotes. To counter this, Carnage had undergone a specialization with the help of Knull's residual consciousness.
Peter noticed that the symbiote before him no longer had that disgusting fluid-like texture; instead, it had hardened into something like armor.
"I should remind you of one thing: from an evolutionary standpoint, stacking armor is never the optimal solution. And of course, I knew this was a trap. Our perceptions only differ on one point—and that is, I know I can completely finish you off within two minutes."
Bracing against the massive G-force, Peter stood up on the surface of the ascending rocket and looked toward Carnage. "Hardening yourself for defense? That just means you're finally willing to step onto the stage yourself, doesn't it?"
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