Spoilers ahead for Extreme Carnage: Phage #1!
Carnage knows that Scream, the symbiote with special powers given to her by Mephisto, is the greatest threat to his existence. Carnage has returned to the Marvel Universe following the events of The King in Black and he has his sights set on becoming president; and in Extreme Carnage: Phage #1, on sale now in print and digital, he sends Phage to dispatch Scream’s former host, hoping to take her Hellfire powers off the table.
Scream is one of the more unqiue symbiotes as its host, Andi Benton, is cursed with a Hell-Mark, given to her by Mephisto. This Hell-Mark allows her to channel Hell-Fire, similar to Ghost Rider, on top of the powers granted to her by the symbiote. She's is also not a first-time symbiote host; previously, she was host to the Mania symbiote, but over time Andi began to lose control and Flash Thompson, who gave her the symbiote in the first place, took it back. Andi would eventually bond with the Scream symbiote, and embark on a career as an anti-hero. Recently, Carnage tried to take control of the Scream symbiote, and was successful, leading Andi to use her Hell-Fire to burn Scream away. But Carnage is not done with her, and in Extreme Carnage: Phage #1 he tries to stop her once and for all.
The issue, written by Steve Orlando, with art by Gerardo Sandoval, inks by Victor Nava and colors by Chris Sotomayor, sees Andi, now without a symbiote, fight off hordes of Guardsman who are trying to take her in. Eventually, they convince her to go to Alchemax’s headquarters, where Phage tracks her. The two get into a fight, with Andi using her Hell-Fire powers to keep Phage at bay. Flash Thompson, AKA Agent Venom, intervenes, but can only watch as Phage impales Andi.
It would seem that Carnage has taken one of the few people who could defeat him off the table, but sometimes hosts prove just as hard to kill as their symbiotes, so there is a chance Scream’s story is not done. What is interesting is that Carnage’s greatest villain was created by Mephisto, who created her Hell-Mark. Mephisto is not the type of character to create heroes, but that is exactly what he's done here. Hell-Fire is one of the few things that can harm a symbiote, and outright kill them as well. This makes Scream dangerous to Carnage and his plans and thus must be destroyed.
Mephisto is Marvel’s version of the Devil, and his schemes work to serve only himself. Yet, Mephisto may have inadvertently created Carnage’s greatest foe: Scream.