It was another average day for Peter Parker. Things were pretty good in the long run for Peter. Peter was at the top of his class at Empire State University, and he had a good paying job. When the Venom Symbiote first infected Peter, he decided to quit his job at The Daily Bugle. After The Avengers helped separate the Symbiote from Peter, he got a job working for Reed Richards at the Baxter Building. The pay was good,  and it was a lot less soul-crushing than his job at The Daily Bugle; Jameson was always such a cheapskate. And every four weeks or less, he would always get a letter from Barbara. He always looked forward to those. He left out the part that he was Spider-Man whenever he wrote back to her. He didn't want her to know about his superhero alter-ego. Other than that, things were pretty good for Peter. He walked on over to the Baxter Building, and took the elevator to Reed Richards's lab. He was used to seeing The Thing or The Hulk taking the stairs. Hulk hated the stairs the most.

A minute later, Peter was at Reed's lab. But much to his surprise, not only did he see Reed Richards, but he also saw SHIELD director Nick Fury. "Mr. Richards, Director Fury... what brings you over here, Director?" Peter asked in surprise. "We have a Code Black," said Director Fury. Peter groaned in displeasure. A Code Red was usually an end of the world crisis. A Code Green was usually a gamma threat. A Code Purple was usually for a mind controller like The Purple Man or Psimon. But a Code Black was a threat for the Symbiotes. "Who escaped?" Peter asked, "Venom or Carnage?" Nick got out his laptop and said, "see for yourself." He then played some footage of SHIELD Labs. Suddenly, there was some sort of explosion that came out of nowhere! And from the explosion was some madman that looked like a cross between Batman and Joker. Except his eyes had spikes all over them. And he had a blood curdling laugh.

"Is that The Joker dressed up as Batman?" Peter asked, getting a case of the Willies. "According to my friend Martin Stein, that figure is known as The Batman Who Laughs," said Reed, "he's from The Dark Multiverse. He's like our Batman of this Earth, except on his Earth, he killed his Joker, and the deceased clown had some sort of nanite gas that altered his DNA, rewriting it to The Joker's DNA. Imagine all of Batman's skills and assets mixed with Joker's lack of empathy and super insanity. You get a cold and remorseless monster who doesn't give a damn as he kills you just for laughs. He would make Wade Wilson look like a cuddly rabbit." They watched as The Batman Who Laughs mutilated various SHIELD agents, gunning them down. He then took the contained Carnage Symbiote, laughed maniacally, and then disappeared in a black puff. "That must have been dark matter he used to enter and exit," said Peter. "Exactly," agreed Reed. "That clown killed everyone in that room," said Fury, "it's a good thing Fitz and Simmons were on vacation when this happened."

"Where did Carnage and The Batman Who Laughs go?" Peter asked. "We don't know," said Fury, "but Carnage is going to be in for a big disappointment once he finds out that Kasady is dead." Cletus Kasady had been dead for less than a week. "That's where you come in Peter," said Reed, "nobody knows The Symbiotes better than you do. We want you to find the Carnage Symbiote and capture it. Tony and I created a machine that can detect any Symbiote. You can use that device to find Carnage. I'll give you as much paid time off as you need to find it." He handed Peter the device. "Thanks Reed," said Peter as he looked at the device, "Carnage looks to have made it to Gotham City."

"Perhaps you could tell Batman the information regarding the Symbiotes," suggested Reed. "Sounds like a plan," said Peter. "One more thing Parker," said Fury, "word has it that Joker escaped Arkham Asylum recently. If you see him or The Batman Who Laughs, get out of there. The Joker has killed 13 of my men. He is one MacDaddy you don't want to fuck with. You understand?" Peter nodded and said, "understood Director Fury." Reed nodded and said, "good luck out there Peter." As Peter got ready, he looked on the bright side, thinking he could give Barbara a surprise visit.