Eddie was currently standing at what looked like the disaster site of a crashed alien spacecraft.
Well, the reality was not that different from a spaceship crash, for Eddie found it easier to believe that aliens were here to save the human race than to accept the fact that floors 60 through 89 of the Stark Building had grown legs and come running to him.
Here's the thing, Eddie decided to head to Central Park in New York, but first and foremost, he needed to find a mode of transportation. Ideally, a car would have been the best choice, but considering the noise might attract a horde of zombies and the car might not be much faster than zombies in the city, Eddie decided to painfully let go of the four-wheeler idea in favor of a two-wheeler.
Eddie found a bicycle not far from the entrance of the emergency department at his local hospital. Plenty of wealthy suburbanites enjoyed cycling on highways. The bike Eddie found was not only in good condition but also well equipped. It should do the job of getting him to the city.
One of the advantages of being born in the suburbs was fewer people, thus fewer zombies. There were already quite a few people inside the public hospital, but once he was outside on the open road, he hardly saw anyone. After biking two to three miles, the only thing he could see were the faint figures of distant zombies on the horizon.
Just as Eddie was starting to relax, he saw a mysterious, colossal object whiz right over his head then crash into the ground with a loud "clang".
The force of the explosion threw him airborne. Thankfully, he landed on a nearby park's grassy field. The soft earth absorbed some of the impact, but it still left him reeling.
When he opened his eyes, there was a gigantic Stark Group logo planted in the ground.
Eddie rubbed his eyes vigorously, wondering if he had a concussion and was hallucinating.
When the image in his sight didn't change, Eddie, ignoring his pain, staggered to his feet and made his way towards the sign.
The humongous staircase behind the sign was not to be overlooked. Despite only being a third of the Stark Building, it was still a whopping 29 stories tall, a high-rise by any standard.
Here it was, a third of the Stark Building jutting diagonally from the ground, belching thick black smoke, yet showing no signs of catching fire. Even the exterior curtain walls were still intact.
Stark Building's main laboratories were located in the upper floors and the basement, making these areas the most heavily fortified. Iron Man, during the remodeling of his old home, had considered almost every possible scenario.
Even absurd scenarios like the military simply chopping off and taking away the building were factored in.
The Marvel Universe was a place where anything could happen. After so many years of creating different narratives, comic book authors had pretty much exhausted every possible twist and turn. As a result, the schemes of many of Marvel's villains had reached levels of absurdity that even the Joker would have to admit "you're the craziest in Gotham City". Yet the superheroes still painstakingly planned containment strategies for these villains specifically.
To anticipate potential aerial strikes that could flatten the building, the top floor of Stark Building was equipped with a special mechanism. If the system detected an imminent threat that could completely destroy the building, it would release the structural locks set by Stark, letting the essential parts break away.
The concept was that, at the precise moment before a devastating assault, several intentionally designed weak points in the structure would be exposed, while the protection around crucial parts of the building would strengthen. This way, regardless of the nature of the attack, whether an explosion or a cut, the affected parts would merely get blown away without disintegrating or collapsing.
Moreover, to prevent potential collateral damage to civilians, floors above the 60th were equipped with a power system that would kick in if the building detected a decrease in altitude. It would hover at a preset altitude until the fuel ran out or Iron Man came to fix the issue.
Therefore, it wasn't actually Spider Man who slammed twenty or so floors over here with a shield; it was the Stark Building's cruising device malfunctioning and noses-diving upon reaching it.
The reason behind the device's failure was that in the universe where Shiller existed, Stark, having met Shiller early on, had a distinct development path for his technology. He used different methods to defend his old home, which meant he had not considered using methods seen in other universes.
As both of them were stealing electricity like mad to catch ghosts, Stark was unaware that the power outlet they were using was actually the security backup power for the building. As a result, the building's energy that should have lasted at least three hours was completely drained. That the building even made it to the suburbs was due to Spider Man's enormous strength.
Since the top floor of the Stark Building was almost never open to ordinary humans, and Iron Man was usually in his battlesuit, the building's security didn't need to consider protecting animals. So, there wouldn't be any shock-absorbing or spatial stability devices, which was why after all the tumbling and tossing, nothing remained intact inside.
Eddie initially planned to enter the building to get some weapons. Not thoroughly aware of the operations of Stark Building, he only knew that Iron Man's battlesuits were powerful, and the weapons must be as well. If he could get his hands on weaponry surpassing human technology, dealing with zombies would be much easier.
Of course, Eddie considered the possibility of danger inside the Stark Building, which was why he had chosen an entryway with a large and clear passage, so he could make a quick getaway if needed.
But all the biosubjects he could see were basically reduced to a gooey mess. Although mentally disturbing, they posed no physical threat to Eddie.
Suddenly, Eddie noticed one mash of debris that didn't resemble the others. Instead of containing pieces of human brain and organs or fragments of bone, it was composed of substantial amounts of black shell-like substance. It didn't resemble any zombie he'd ever seen.
Eddie asked in his head, "Venom, can we eat this?"
With contempt, Venom huffed, to which Eddie retorted, "In times like these, stop being so choosy. Maybe it tastes good."
The symbiotic tentacle formed from black symbiotic factor hesitated before reaching out to that strange mash. After consuming some, it stopped. Eddie asked with anticipation, "Can we eat this?"
"Not as bad as zombies, but it doesn't fill the stomach."
Eddie immediately understood what Venom meant; the substances still didn't contain the kind of amines he needed. They were edible just not particularly appetizing.
However, upon realizing that there were other things on this planet besides zombies to eat, Eddie became excited. As long as they could find food for Venom, they could endure here for as long as necessary.
He found the courage to continue venturing into the dark corridor, embarking on a culinary adventure with his symbiont.
Helen and Spider-Man gave up the idea of slaughtering out on the streets; partly because Helen was feeling unwell and partly because the number of zombies in Manhattan was so overwhelming that the mere thought of it was discouraging.
Some of the zombies had detected their presence. However, the virulent potency of the zombie virus was proportional; the weak humans infected with it certainly became stronger, but were still no match for Spider-Man's agility.
Spider-Man was constantly hopping across rooftops, heading towards Central Park, New York.
The news about the mysterious fallen object was no secret, but Spider-Man noticed a detail in the report; the first ones to arrive at the fallen object scene were not the police or the military, but The Avengers.
He thought about it, and it seemed unusual because Spider-Man came from a relatively normal universe where New York was destroyed daily and weird stuff, like Thor's Mjölnir, fell randomly from the sky.
From Spider-Man's understanding, typically, before it was confirmed that the object had fallen under S.H.I.E.L.D.'s jurisdiction, the police or the Federal Bureau of Investigation were tasked to handle it.
Looking at the treatment of Mjölnir, by the time The Avengers members arrived in New Mexico, the Federal Bureau of Investigation had already evacuated residents, set up isolation zones, and arranged for all surveillance equipment.
They had only sourced for S.H.I.E.L.D. because they couldn't handle the magical weapon; If they could've moved it, they would've taken it to their facility.
Conventionally, there exists a competitive relationship between various departments in America. Just because S.H.I.E.L.D. is under The World Security Council doesn't entirely rule out the friction between the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the military.
In fact, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s superior political status made many things more delicate. Spider-Man might seem naive, but while dealing with The Avengers members and Nick, he had a vague feeling that often their inner rivalry was more impactful than the enemy outside.
Under normal circumstances, as soon as a celestial object fell, the public would call the police, who would hurriedly evacuate the crowd, set up warning lines, and use police vehicles as explosion barriers.
Then, Federal Bureau of Investigation agents would follow, quickly flashing their badges at the police chief before rushing into the scene like coyotes, examining the fallen object for any traces of alien high-tech.
If such was the case, unmarked and unregistered vehicles would promptly drive in and move everything. If the object created a significant commotion, the military representatives, albeit a little later, would also arrive at the scene.
Sometimes, S.H.I.E.L.D. too would send agents for investigation, but they were usually field agents. After all, New York, being the epicenter of the universe, was witness to several strange events; it was implausible that The Avengers, their strongest force, would show up every time something happened.
But this time, the reports about the fallen celestial object in New York from notable news outlets all mentioned a particular detail—The Avengers sprang into action from inside a building just a few seconds after the human-shaped object landed.
It didn't appear to be an emergency response; instead, it seemed like they had been waiting nearby, ready to pounce on the object as soon as it touched the ground.
So, the question then was, how, without knowing what was falling from the sky, The Avengers members were already waiting around, ready to move in and fight as soon as the object landed?
Spider-Man instinctively felt that a massive secret was concealed behind all this—possibly related to the source of this cosmic disaster.
Although he knew that the eyewitnesses at the scene wouldn't be in their right mind, it was precisely because The Avengers directly climbed up without giving the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the military a chance to act, that the only place that held possible investigative leads was Central Park, New York. Now, Spider-Man would have to go there.
Spider-Man was shockingly fast, and it didn't take him long to get close to Central Park, New York. However, the clues he needed weren't actually in the park; he was looking for potential photos left behind in the nearby eyewitnesses' homes.
He remembered several newspaper photographs' angles and used them slowly to construct a three-dimensional map in his mind. If he wasn't mistaken, almost all photos were shot from east to west.
If journalists had laid in wait, it couldn't have been that coincidental. Spider-Man vaguely remembered a newspaper photo caption stating that it was taken by a flash art team enthusiast.
Spider-Man began to piece together the situation at the time—
There was a flash art team holding an event on the east side of Central Park, New York. An enthusiast group following the team had come there with their cameras ready, taking pictures of their idols.
Just then, dark clouds gathered overhead and purple lightning flashed, coinciding with the time when the human-shaped object fell from the sky. The camera shutters of the flash team enthusiasts went off in rapid succession, unwittingly capturing this eerie scene.