Jack of Hearts watched with his own eyes as his captain got infected by a damned symbiote while saving a survivor. The ordinary people who should have been freed from the symbiote's grasp by Thor's lightning had now become symbiote-possessed monsters again. Not only that, they were even stronger. War Machine and Blackhawk were immediately infected and became monsters, joining the Hulk as the newest possessed superheroes. They immediately attacked Jack of Hearts and Living Lightning, two beings of pure energy who couldn't be bonded with symbiotes.
But they weren't the biggest problem.
When the attack spread to Citizen V, the robotic hero, a strange change occurred. The Captain America-colored robot quickly morphed. An arc reactor-like device appeared on his chest, a machine gun appeared on his shoulder, and then a pair of Blackhawk's wings appeared on his back. He immediately attacked Blackhawk and War Machine. In Citizen V's judgment, these two had lost their combat capability and become enemies, and it was time to clean them up.
"What are you doing?!"
Jack of Hearts was stunned. Even if Colonel Rhodes was infected by a symbiote, there was no need to attack him like that. Stopping him would be enough. Symbiotes weren't impossible to remove!
"Zacks! We have to stop it!"
And so, the U.S. Avengers began to fight each other in the midst of this attack. The U.S. Avengers would have to first dodge attacks from their own teammates in the midst of the symbiote siege.
The street heroes who had left weren't faring well either. They had left because they thought they were safe, wanting to use the opportunity to check on the gangsters of Manhattan. But soon, a large group of symbiotes appeared on the road.
It was at this point that the Defenders realized things were going south, because they saw several familiar faces among these seemingly ordinary symbiote grunts. For example, Tombstone, with his indestructible skin, Hammerhead, with his reinforced skull, and Prowler, with his flexible mobility...
The gang leaders who had superpowers or special equipment had all become symbiote monsters. The Defenders were now trapped by symbiote gangsters and street criminals, and the symbiotes within them would undoubtedly see them as the next high-quality hosts to bond with.
As for the Thunderbolts, Fury had officially summoned them to take over for the U.S. Avengers, but in reality, they were nowhere to be found, probably on some special mission.
The Captain, while throwing his shield, said to Peter, who was standing beside him: "Avengers Tower has fallen! Spider-Man, many survivors have been re-infected with symbiotes and are attacking others. The same thing is happening at the Baxter Building, where the Fantastic Four are. Johnny has gone to help them!"
In an instant, the original rescue team was reduced to the Captain, Iceman, and Emma Frost, along with a newly arrived Peter, and J. Jonah Jameson and other people the Captain and his team had rescued from the Avengers Tower who were also retreating. This group of five was all the combat power they had left.
"If this were some DC Comics event, then the U.S. Avengers, the Thunderbolts, the Defenders, and the Fantastic Four would all have their own side stories about what's happening right now!"
"Oh, and Thor, why can't his lightning blast the symbiote off of the Hulk? That doesn't make sense!"
Peter kicked a symbiote enemy in the jaw. The Captain was still fighting, but the protective magical barrier on his body was gradually failing. He swung his shield, knocking a symbiote flying, then looked at Peter.
"Spider-Man, you should leave. We'll take these people to the Sanctum Sanctorum. It's the only shelter we have left."
"I'm not sure the Sanctum Sanctorum will let you in, especially after what just happened," Peter said, helping the Captain fend off several enemies. But the Captain just looked at Peter and advised.
"Strange said you were the key to defeating Knull. Although I don't know how, since this is a mystical matter, we should probably listen to the sorcerer." The Captain said, directing Iceman to defend. Neither Peter, the Captain, nor possibly even Strange himself knew why Spider-Man was the key to defeating Knull.
But fate was always unpredictable.
Peter looked at the Captain for a moment, then nodded and swung away with a web. The Captain continued to direct the others in defense, letting Spider-Man go to find a way to fight Knull.
Peter first went to the location where Thor and the Hulk were fighting. He watched their battle from a rooftop. In just a few minutes, the two of them had almost destroyed half a city block. Peter watched Thor swing his hammer, his lightning striking the Hulk in the face, sending the gray behemoth flying. But the symbiote on the Hulk showed no change. It just stuck out its tongue, roaring and continuing to charge toward Thor.
"So Knull's symbiotes can't have their consciousness severed by Thor's divine power now? That's impossible… If Knull could do that, he wouldn't have been trapped in Grendel's body in the first place. So how did Knull manage to keep the symbiotes connected to the Hulk?"
[Those symbiotes don't have their own consciousness.]
Those symbiotes don't have their own consciousness. Venom answered Peter's confusion in one sentence. To sever the mental link between a symbiote and its host, the symbiote must first have its own consciousness. The grunts created by Knull did not have their own consciousness; instead, they were simply following Knull's commands.
In other words, he needed to start with Knull to sever the symbiotes' consciousness? No, it should be Grendel. Knull's consciousness was actually trapped within Grendel, so he needed to start with Grendel.
He had to prevent Grendel's consciousness from commanding the other symbiotes, while also not killing Grendel and allowing Knull's consciousness to revive—according to Ghost's report, Grendel, like these grunts, was a monster made of pure symbiote and had no host.
This was going to be a problem.
[Riot is here.]
"Oh, Riot is here… Riot is here?" Peter was stunned for a moment, then looked back. Riot didn't climb walls as gracefully as Spider-Man. It simply stuck its fingers into the wall and climbed straight up.
"Alright, round three. Let's send this guy back to Knull."
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