Maximum Carnage
Issue 11 - "The Alt-World, part 3"

by Justin Anderson


 

Friday, February 23rd. Time unknown

'Journal Entry, Feb. 23-

  Additional additional. After walking for quite some time, we encountered
 some strange creatures. A Crylack and Skreelack, as they were called.
 Possibly part of Carnage's army. We've also located a large, unfinished
 monster corpse. It may be Carnage's new body in construction. End of
 entry. 
                                        - Jack'

 Both men had snuck down the edge of the hill to get closer to the large 
form. It was clearly the new form of Domientius, the one he meant to take 
over the world with. Assuming he only meant to take it over. The skin covered 
only the bottom areas. Further upwards, the muscle disappeared, revealing 
unfinished bone. Along the sides, openings could be seen. Screelaks were
using these to enter and exit. Some were hauling in large carts filled
with building materials.

"Cletus, we have to get in there and sabotage this!"

"But how?"

Jack pointed to the large backpack Cletus was wearing. It was the area
demolition explosive.

"Maybe. But first, we have to get in there. I don't think those things will
stand by and just let us waltz right in! Besides, if it doesn't work, we'll
have wasted our best shot at wasting Carnage himself"

"I know that, Cletus. But we have no idea where Carnage is. At least, if we
can do this, it will throw a monkey wrench in his whole plan!"

Cletus let out a sigh.

"Why couldn't an experienced hero team have been pulled through instead
of us? Okay..... we'll sneak around to the south. I'll use one of these
grenades as a distraction. It should give us time to get inside"

Jack nodded. They snuck along the stone edge until they were parallel to the
openings. Cletus removed one of his grenades. Pulling the pin, he tossed
it into a pile of bones. The explosion sent bone fragments everywhere.
Screelaks within a close distance were injured, the rest running over to
check out what had happened. In the confusion, Jack and Cletus ran to
one of the openings. Inside, it was almost a nightmare.

 The body had a network of tunnels running through it. They led past
unfinished organs and tissue. Both men walked on, the soft muscle floor
making the journey harder and more sickening. They reached a small opening.
They could see a few Screelaks at work. They were building up muscle around
something. They pulled out a small piece of muscle from the cart, set it in
place, and poured some liquid on it from an old goblet. The muscle grew and
fused into place. 

 The creatures wandered off down the opposite path. The two walked over to
inspect the area. Jack noticed the floor got softer. Looking down, he realized
he was standing on a long tongue.

"We're in the neck. Next floor, brains and eyes"

Cletus shook his head in disgust.

"Jack, what did they say the blast range on this was?"

"Uhh.....three blocks, I think. Why?"

Cletus walked down the small hall. He neared a large, red object in the 
center. It was the heart. It was the size of a large van, and looked to 
be complete.

"A body this size and density could absorb some of the blast, right?

"Cletus, I don't know. I never took advanced physics"

"Well..... the heart might be a good place to set this. The brain might be 
better, but it could leave something intact. Besides, I imagine if that demon
is going to possess this, the brain wouldn't matter. The heart sounds more
important"

Jack looked around. On the ground, he saw a long carving blade. Picking it
up, he walked over and stabbed into the heart. Cutting a long gash, he threw
the knife away. Cletus pulled the backpack off. Unzipping the flap, he pressed
a few buttons. Jack pulled the heart open. Cletus stuck the bomb in.

"I set it for only four minutes. We'll have to move fast"

Jack pulled his shotgun.

"Switch it on"

Cletus reached in and pressed the activation button. Running out into the
front, Jack took out a Screelak which had wondered in to the area. Making their
way through the maze, they reached an outside opening. Ignoring the Screelaks,
they ran forward as far as they could. Reaching a small ledge, they jumped
down to the ground below. Screelaks began marching over to their location.

"I hope that thing goes off soon...."

As the first few reached the ledge, the body tore into numerous fragments as
the explosive went off. The force knocked the nearby creatures forward,
several feet past the small ledge. After the sound had cleared and the last
of the debris landed, Jack looked over the edge. Screelaks were scattered
all over, in pieces. The body itself remained in only a few pieces. Most of
it was scattered in piles in the nearby radius. The body had blocked most of the
explosive force, but took all the impact. 



 Domientius floated in front of the holographic viewing window.

"NOOOOOO! IMPOSSIBLE!"

The symbiote sat in the throne, laughing.

"HAHAHA! I told you! You should have taken them down as soon as they got here!
But you didn't think it was worth the trouble. If I had a body, I'd do it
myself...."

The spirit floated over to the throne.

"Two humans should not have this much power..... could those artificial
drugs really have granted them the powers of the Gods? Not even the
ancients were this powerful. Perhaps you are right.....you need a body. 
But we'll do it my way!"

 The demon entered the symbiote. Inflating, the gestalt creature stood. Picking
up the book and the heart, he placed the heart in his chest and opened the
book to a specific passage. Standing in front of a stone altar, he began
to recite an ancient passage. As he read, stones buried in the altar began
to glow. As he finished, the stones lit up, and sent beams into the five
stones of the heart pendant. Carnage's normal boot-like feet were changed.
The heels rounded out, and the ends split into toes. Long spikes grew from
his fingertips and toes. His standard black teeth changed into white spikes,
and all over his body, the smooth muscular shape gave way to bone-like
decorations. Both creatures had fully bonded into a monster. The humanoid
form of Carnage was no more. Domientius had his new body.

 A Screelak walked up the stairs. This was one of the few who could speak.
This was one of the few who carried orders to the Screelaks who couldn't
speak, or think. This was one of the few that used to be a human.

"Ah.....there you are. Prepare all Screelaks. I want Maximum Carnage hunted
down! BRING THEM TO ME! Use Krylakks if you have to. JUST MAKE SURE IT
GETS DONE!"



 Cletus stood above Jack. They were both very tired. But sleeping in this
place wasn't the best choice. They were going to have to do this in shifts.
Jack had been out for a while. Maybe an hour, Cletus couldn't tell. But
it wasn't sleep that had worried him. It was food. They would need to eat
something eventually, and this place wasn't exactly a buffet. They may have
to resort to killing and cooking those red lizards. Water was also a problem.
They hadn't seen a drop. He hoped they would stumble on Carnage soon, otherwise
they may not make it. Immortality was one thing, but not even that could make
up for eating. Even if they lived, they would be thin bodies laying around,
watching the world die.

 His thoughts were halted by a few noises from nearby. They sounded familiar.
He had heard those large, red things making them. He poked at Jack.

"Hey, get up! I think I hear more of those big things!"

Jack slowly crawled up from the ground.

"Jack, we need to think fast. We need to find a logical spot for Carnage
to be hiding. We can't last long here. We'll starve. Those things will
eventually get us. These weapons are all we have left"

Jack stood and looked down at the false city area below the hills.

"Well, I've been thinking about that. It seems like he would hang out in
the center. I've estimated the area of this place to be roughly a mile and
a half in diameter. And the center houses various buildings. We get to the 
center and look for a way in"

 Cletus liked the idea. It may not work, but it was something. And it
came just in time, too. Seconds later, Screelaks poured from the edge of 
the forest. Several Krylakks could be seen with them.

"Cletus.... I think now would be a good time to test that idea!"


THE END. Next issue, year 1 concludes.


Author's notes: The misspellings of Krylakk and Screelak at the beginning
are intentional. Jack wouldn't know the true spellings.


 
Notes: Basically set in the Marvel Universe, I will be using a lot of my
own continuity for this series, and generally focus on the main characters.
Appearances by Marvel's universe will be special occurrences. Crossovers with
characters/titles from other companies will be treated as "single universe",
not as "2 universes crossing temporarily". I will also try to ignore major
Marvel comic story arcs. Cletus Kasady, Carnage, and other Marvel characters
are copyright Marvel Entertainment Group, Inc. Other characters are either
my creation(copyright myself), or copyright their specific owners if non-
Marvel licensed characters. Characters used without permission/not for
profit. These are strictly fan stories. Permission to reprint extends to
placing this text, unaltered, elsewhere online. It may not be altered,
and especially NOT TO BE SOLD, unless Marvel wishes to license this series
from me.