Maximum Carnage
Issue 12 - "The Alt-World, part 4"

by Justin Anderson


 

Date and Time unknown

'Journal Entry, unknown date-
  We've managed to destroy the large body they had been building. However,
 it seems it may have made little difference. We've been surrounded
 by several creatures, and we have no food or water. If we don't finish
 this soon, we might as well give up. End of entry.
                                        - Jack'

 Cletus look around. The creatures had gathered all around them. There must
have been hundreds of them. Not to mention the lizard creatures. At best,
they could kill most of them. But that would require every last bit of weaponry
they had. Then they would have lost. But it wasn't over yet. Cletus saw the
small ledge pointing towards the city wasn't blocked off. He pulled both his
.45 pistols.

"Jack...on my signal...."

Cletus began firing. Jack let loose with his shotgun.

"RUN!"

 Both men made tracks to the ledge, hoping there was nothing below. It was just
a few meters until they could jump down. Tossing a grenade into a nearby
pack, it was enough of a distraction to let both of them reach the edge and
jump down the few feet to the ground below. The path ahead was clear. Both
men ran forward, hoping to reach the city.



"I DON'T BELIEVE THIS!"

Carnage watched the events unfold from his projection window. They had gotten
away from an entire platoon. The Screelak in the room knew he was in for it.

"Sir....might I add that the troops are weak. We have not eaten in over a
thousand years. Most Screelaks are stupid to begin with, and the time alone
in nothing only made them dumber.... And the Krylakks are nothing more than
walking piranha. They don't know how to use strategy..."

Carnage walked over to the frightened creature.

"Well..... they're trying to get to me. So, if the troops are too weak to
hold them off..... LET THEM COME! I will take care of them myself!"



 Both men had wandered into the heart of the city. They didn't have much
trouble, just a few Screelaks, which were easily taken care of. They had
stopped to reload their weapons. Cletus only had a few grenades left. Jack
looked both ways down the street. Each way looked to be about the same distance
until the buildings ended. Cletus looked up at the nearest building.

"Jack....does this building look a little familiar to you?"

Jack looked at the facade of the building.

"Yes....the 21 Club.... at least, an evil copy of it"

"Remember those hidden passages, Jack?"

"I get it. We're near the center of this place. This building, even twisted,
should mirror certain aspects. It would make sense for the wine cellar here
to lead below"

 Both men stepped forward and opened the front doors. Inside, people could
be seen at the tables. Spotting the two, they immediately shed their skins
to reveal Screelaks. 

"Cletus.... WASTE 'EM!"

Jack pointed his shotgun and fired. Cletus opened fire with his pistols. The
creatures fell. 

"That....was a little too easy, Jack"

"I agree. Let's go downstairs"

 Reaching the steps, a lone Krylakk blocked their way. Jack put it out of his
misery with a single shell. They headed downward. In the kitchen, Screelaks
could be seen playing with the food. They had no idea what the equipment was
for, if it even worked. Before they could be spotted, Cletus threw a grenade,
blowing up an opposite corner of the room. While the creatures moved over to
investigate, both men ran towards the wine cellar door. But there was no
visible lock. As Jack screamed a few obscenities under his breath, Cletus
unhooked his last grenade.

"Who needs a key when you have explosives"

 Standing back, Cletus pulled the pin and rolled the grenade into the small
passageway. Seconds later, the explosion echoed throughout the room. Knowing
the Screelaks would head this way, they ran over to the door. It was still
standing, but barely. Jack heard the creatures getting closer. With a rush
of energy, he threw his weight into the door. It fell over, a loud squeal 
being shouted as it landed. It had fallen on a Krylakk.

 They stepped into the room. The table was absent, but the bottles were still
in place. They looked the walls over. Each bottle had it's proper label on 
the bottom, but instead of celebrity names, names of tyrants, murderers, and
demons adored the bottles. Cletus picked one up. It was filled with blood.
Disgusted, he smashed it on the floor. Jack pulled bottles down, searching
for an opening. Finally, he reached in and found a long chain. Pulling on it,
the wall pulled open, revealing a doorway leading down.

 Screelaks had begun to pour into the room. They barely fit through the door,
as their height and bulk was almost too big for the opening. Both men ran in
through the opening in the wall, deciding it would be a bad idea to stay and 
fight. Jack pulled the door shut behind him.

 They walked down the stairs. It wasn't as they had remembered. These stairs
seemed to have been carved out of the rock, and they were uneven. The stairs
also wound down in a strange fashion. The area was lit, but not by any
visible means. Finally, they reached the bottom.

 The area was not even close to the room they had remembered. It was a large,
open room, carved out from the rock. A large lava pit filled the middle, broken
only by the stairs leading to the throne. Carnage sat on the throne, a Screelak
beside him.

"WELCOME! Welcome, Cletus! The both of you are too late to stop me. Within
minutes, I will open the gate. Don't think you halted my plans. Throughout
these few weeks, every time you though you were saving yourself from evil,
you only managed to further my plans ahead of schedule. This alien serves
as a more useful host. And as a stronger body than the one I tried to construct.
But I will enjoy disposing if the both of you first. I want you to watch as
I ruin your planet. I WANT YOU TO WITNESS THE END YOU TRIED SO HARD TO
PREVENT!"

 Before either could respond, the Screelak marched forward, down the steps.
Jack fired from his .45, but the bullets barely phased the creature.

"Yes..... you killed so many of my kind so easily. But a healthy Screelak
will have no trouble against you!"

 Both men looked at each other. Jack had a plan. He ran to one side of the 
room and opened fire from his shotgun. He wasn't going for a killing
shot, but he hoped the force would knock it back. After a shot to the legs,
the creature fell back, into the lava. Its screams could be heard from the
liquid as it burned to death. Not even a stronger body could save it
from the fires of Hell.

 Carnage stood. The games were over. It was time for the real battle to begin.
Picking up his sword, he recited another passage, from memory. Finishing, 
his body changed once more. Spikes grew from his head, forming a crown. A
thin sheet grew from his back, connecting both his arms in a long wing-like
cape. He walked forward and move down the steps. 

"When I finish with you, I will torment you both. Cletus, you will watch as
I rip Spider-Man to pieces. Then I will shove Venom into a garbage truck.
And Dr. Kafka.... I WILL TEAR HER FACE OFF AND MAKE YOU WEAR IT! And Jack....
you will be forced to watch as Captain America has swastikas carved all over 
his body! And after the personal torment, you will be planted in the ground
to watch as the world crumbles!"

 Carnage reached the bottom of the stairs. Jack raised his shotgun.

"FUCK YOU, ASSHOLE!"

 He fired the remainder of his shells into the symbiote, but they had no
effect. The wounds filled instantly. Jack ducked behind a nearby pillar
and reloaded his weapon. Cletus fired at the creature himself, but it did
no good. Carnage raised his sword and swung. The tip of the large blade
out s long slice across Cletus's forehead as it passed by. Pulling back the
large sword, he pkunged it forward, into Cletus's stomach.

"Yes.... you're on the other end now! But you'll live....meaning.... YOU GET
TO SUFFER!"

 He pulled the sword out. Cletus slumped to the ground, in severe pain.
Carnage kicked him repeatedly. Jack had watched it all. He raised his
shotgun and fired several shells into the monster's back. Turning around,
Carnage began to walk towards Jack, preparing to do to Jack what he had just
done to his former body. But in their combined mind, neither Carnage nor
Domientius saw this for what it was. A distraction.

 Cletus pulled out one of his pistols. Firing into Carnage's back, the bullet
passed through and knocked the pendant from the demon's chest. It slid across 
the floor. Jack jumped for it, slapping his left hand on the chain before it
fell into the lava. Carnage shook in a slight amount of pain. Shaking it off,
he turned back to Cletus.

 Jack had discovered a weakness. The heart was no mere pendant. It was connected
to Domientius. It was a physical representation of him. And hurting it hurt
him. And Jack wasn't about to let the world die. Not now.

 Carnage continued to kick Cletus like an old pillow. He laughed insanely.
He enjoyed mistreating humans. He saw humans as a lower life form. One that
didn't deserve to rule the planet. He saw himself as the only being worthy
of that honor. But something was happening to him. He felt pain. Severe pain.
He turned to see Jack slowly lowering the pendant into the lava. Carnage's
body began to smoke. He dropped his sword, the pain was so severe. His cape
and crown slowly retracted.

"You think that will stop me, human? Even if it does.... you're stuck here"

Jack didn't look up, but answered anyway.

"I guess that's just too bad, Carnage. But you're still going to lose"

 He lowered the pendant further. Carnage tried to make his way to the young
man, but his steps were slowing down. The pain was too much. Finally, Jack
had sunk the entire pendant, holding on only by the chain. Carnage's features
returned to normal. The spikes and bony protrusions had sunk back in. Before
Carnage could take one more step, his body burst into flames. Unholy flames.

 Carnage screamed as loud as he could. He was in too much pain to do anything.
He stood in place, burning. Jack didn't dare pull the pendant out. Finally,
the flames went out, and the symbiote fell backwards. It splattered on the
stone floor. It was unconscious. By this time, a few Screelaks had made their 
way down the stairs. Before any of them could run in, however, the structure
began to shake. Jack pulled the pendant out and ran over to Cletus, who was still
conscious.

"Jack....what's going on....?"

"I don't know, but Carnage is out. I hope whatever it is, it happens soon!"

 As the few creatures entered the open space, a long crack began to open in the
floor. As it widened, a bright light poured out. The crack ran across the
lava, up the back wall, and across the ceiling. The room wasn't collapsing. The
universe was. Jack grabbed Cletus by the shoulders and pulled him back. Areas
around the vortex crack had disappeared. The artificial world was falling
apart. It's creator was unconscious. It had nothing to hold on to. Jack
prepared for the ground to give way. However, the vortex opened wider. In
a strong gust of wind, both men were picked up and pulled through the vortex....



Saturday, February 24th. 3:42 PM. 

 Jack was helped up from the ground. As he looked up, he saw a few of the
soldiers he had met earlier. He pulled himself to his feet. Cletus was
being helped up as well. Jack looked to his side and saw a red pile.

"THERE! Carnage!"

General Peterson had stepped out into the opening.

"Corporal! Get the VCU!"

 Two of the soldiers walked up with the large glass case. Setting it down
near the symbiote, they turned the device on. Sticking the hose into the pile,
Carnage was sucked into the container. Cletus had just been pulled to his
feet. Inspecting himself, he found his forehead scratch gone, and his 
stab wound nothing more than a red mark. The general walked over to both of them.

"Congratulations! You did it. Let's go inside and get you two cleaned up"

 Cletus walked in with the general and a few soldiers. Jack stayed behind to
look around. They were definitely back home. If the road had been clean,
Jack would have kissed it. Looking around a little more, he spotted a few
things of interest. The pendant, book, and sword. Dumping his torso belts,
he picked all three up. He stuck the pendant and book in his coat pockets
and slid the sword in beside his shotgun.


Inside. 3:54 PM

 Cletus drank a glass of water. He had almost forgotten what it had
tasted like. Jack sat down in one of the chairs against the wall. The general
was finishing gathering all the information he needed.

"All right. Technically, you were gone for over 24 hours. However, you say
you can only recall several hours passing?"

Seeing that Cletus was too busy shoving chips down his throat, Jack
decided to answer.

"That's right. But time seemed to have no meaning in that place"

Before the general could ask anything else, two soldiers entered the room.
They were carrying a large animal, its mouth strapped shut.

"Sir, we found this outside. We-"

Jack stood.

"KRYLAKK! That's that lizard thing I mentioned!"

"Well, men. It seems we have a new species of animal to study. Secure it
and take it to Washington with the symbiote"

While the general was distracted, Jack walked over to the desk. Dr. Kafka
opened her desk drawer and took out the tube. Jack took it, neither of them
saying a word. The general turned around.

"All right, I have enough information"

As the general walked off, Cletus stood.

"Hey, what about us?"

"Oh, yes. I did have something to ask. I would like to hire you as special
agents for the government. You seem to be rather adept at saving the world,
and you would be doing your country a big favor!"

Cletus stood. Jack stepped forward.

"Listen.... we quit. There is no way we're doing that again! Cletus got
beaten like a side of beef, I saw stuff that I was told didn't exist....
we're taking a break. But if you ever need anything small, just call us"

The general saluted them and walked out of the room. The two privates by the
door followed. Cletus turned to the doctor.

"Listen doc.... thanks. Thanks for having faith in me. You were right"

"Well, Cletus.... I think everyone under my care has a chance at redemption.
And you became a hero because I never gave up on you. Wherever you go next...
enjoy your freedom"

Cletus turned and walked out of the room. Jack looked over at the doctor.

"I'll be sure to keep an eye on him"

Doc Kafka simply gave a slight smile as Jack turned and left the office.


THE END OF YEAR 1


Author's notes: Any plot holes that were never answered in the first year,
don't ask about them. They will be filled in later. And remember the general.
He will come in to play in a big way in year 2.  



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.