Maximum Carnage, Year 2 Issue 19 - "Demonseed among us" by Justin Anderson Tuesday, April 26th. 9:02 AM, Brooklyn Jack stood by the small apartment window. He was back in his home town, though it was temporary. No, he hadn't returned on his own free will- it was a mission. He was stuffed in this apartment building to watch someone. Unlike the one he had lived in soe time ago, this apartment was nice. His cover was the son of a wealthy businessman. And to compensate for the lack of his partner, he was well equipped. He had several pistols, his shotgun, an AK-47, and a few greandes. Before leaving, his coat was finally altered to fit him. It no longer hung to his ankles. Just to his knees now, and the sleeves didn't hide his palms. They'd even added a zipper. Then there was the video camera watching the opposite side of the street, as well as a cell phone in case he needed to call out. The papers and photos sat on the bed and the table. Jack couldn't believe this. A Screelak? Spotted in this city? Maybe. No one knew for sure. But as of now, he was watching someone who was believed to be.....not human. An upstanding young man, college student. He'd taken a strange turn lately. He was normally a party animal, and popular with the girls. But he had become secretive and reclusive lately, about the same time reports of a monster in the area surfaced. Jack remembered the old man. How he had acted like a human, but turned into one of those things. And if one was out there, it had to be taken down before it could rescue its master. But the government wanted it alive. No easy task. Jack jumped as his cell phone rang. He picked it up and opened the cover. "Hello?.....oh, Clete. What?.....YOU WHAT? ARE YOU LOSING IT?......well..... okay.....but remember, don't open that tube! And be careful. Take only a bit. And for crying out loud, don't let anyone USE IT!.....okay...bye" He hung up. He could have gone berserk. Cletus wanted to test that drug in a lab. Jack was glad he wasn't there to strangle his partner. But right now, he had another job. And it was about to get tougher. He monitored the view window on the camera. The man could be seen headed to his apartment building, two people behind him with the same blank stare. 'Oh, man.....that had better be a convention of the damned. Otherwise, we've got more than we counted on' He picked up the walkie talkie sitting on the small table. "Team 1 and team 2, be ready to move in on my signal. We may have three of them" Two teams of Agents waited in the area in case he needed them. And if he was going to get one of these alive, he'd need their help. He grabbed a few necessities- his shotgun, some pistols, conveniently stuffed in his coat pockets, some grenades shoved in with the pistols, and one item of importance. The heart pendant of Domientius. It might be useful bait if these were Screelaks. Slipping the receiver in his last empty pocket, he exited the apartment, moved to the first floor, exited the building, and crossed the street. Entering the doors of the opposite building, he moved to the proper door. He knocked. "Pizza!" He heard some movement inside. "We ordered nothing. Begone" Jack knew that wasn't a standard human response. He knocked again. "Heart of Domientius!" The door opened. A black haired young man answered. "Come in...." Jack entered the small apartment. Very quaint. No furniture, no lights, nothing but some sort of ritual circle. "Yes.....we know you. You're not normal" The red haired young man spoke up. "He's one of the two who defeated the Lord" Finally, the blond young man, the one who had been suspected, spoke up. "Be careful. He is not regular. Taking the heart will be difficult. Tell me, human, what do you have to gain by taunting us?" Jack dangled the chain on the end of his right index finger, the black glove material preventing the chain from sliding. The five red stones caught what little like the room had. "Okay, let's play a game. You answer my questions, and I may let you have this" The red haired man moved towards the leader of the pack. "Can we trust this human?" "We have no choice. Fine. Ask us anything" "Okay. Are you human?" "No, we are Screelak" "Were those bodies human?" "No" Jack tensed up inside as he asked the third question. "What happened to the humans you copied?" "Dead" "How do you copy bodies?" "Demonic incantations given to us by our Lord" Jack stuffed the pendant away inside his coat. "I'm sick of this. Show yourselves" The three stared at each other. Seeing no option, they complied. Their bodies grew, their skin and clothes splitting in the process. In seconds, the skins were dropped to the floor, the three Screelaks in their place. Jack turned away and grabbed the radio receiver. "Advance slowly. Both teams, move out now" He stuffed it away as he turned to face them. They were almost identical, down to their skin color and shape. Minor differences in their horns and spikes separated them. "Now, human......you know our true forms. Will you join us?" "Yes, yes I will....let me get your heart out. Be ready to catch it...." Jack grabbed in his pocket and pulled a grenade. Pulling the pin, he tossed it. The third Screelak grabbed it, the explosion ripping it's arms and face apart. The second began to charge, but the one in charge held it back. "No.....this human does not yet.....trust us. Maybe we can make him see...." Someone was pounding on the door. A woman's voice could be heard. the Agents would have simply kicked it in. Not quite time for a capture. Jack pulled his shotgun and pointed forward. "One wrong move, and I turn you into pudding. Now....who wants to die?" "Human....you can't win.....the glory of Domientius will cleanse this planet soon enough, and you can not stop it!" "Oh? Kiss my ass!" Jack unloaded several shells in the second, killing it. He holstered his shotgun after he finished hosing down the creature. "Now.....you may get out of this alive, shit-for-brains monster! Play my game, and you might just win" "NO GAMES! YOUR RACE WILL BE DESTROYED!" As it charged, mouth open, the door was kicked in. Several Agents poured in the room, guns drawn. They fired. Small silver darts hit the creature. Jack turned to one of the Agents. "Will those darts work on it?" "We.....hope so...." The creature had barely flinched as it was struck, but as more darts hit it, the drugs took effect, slowly. The creature was moving at a crawl, but still conscious. It was still very dangerous, despite its weakened state. Spectators had gathered in the hall, the Agents holding them out of the room, but if it got out, it could kill many. And in the way of Screelak sightings, this was their only chance to study a living specimin. Jack pulled a small black cloth bag from one of his pockets. he did what he was told to do with it- he put it over the monster's head and pulled the drawstring. Blocking its sight, Jack was able to grab onto it, holding it in place. Several Agents ran forward and took their chance to tie its arms and legs together. Within minutes, the creature was down, wriggling, but unable to move. It was tied into a helpless ball. "YOU FOOLS! THE HUMAN RACE WILL DIE! THERE IS NO DELAYING IT! AND WE WILL NOT BE STOPPED!" 9:28 AM The carts were wheeled outside. Reporters had shown up, but the Agents prevented them from taking any pictures. The creature was hoisted from the large moving cart into a waiting military truck. It was still muttering threats, which by now, were being ignored. The second cart contained the dead Screelak pieces, placed in a sterile container for transport to Washington, D.C. They were a bonus. Not only was a live one captured, but pieces to study as well. And no one had died in the process. Jack watched as the trucks were loaded. Clean-up crews would have to be brought in to take care of what was left. But Jack wodnered about the families of those replaced. How do you tell someone their son was killed and copied by a monster who wanted to end all human life? And, make it sound believable at the same time? "Mr. Arden, your plane is waiting" Jack turned. An Agent waited by a small black car. He entered. It was going to be a long flight home, and Jack was very tired. 7:30 PM Jack drove up the road in his small Tracer. Stopping in front of the house, he exited the car and walked towards the door. Opening it, he stepped inside. Cletus was sitting on the couch. "Oh, there you are" "'Oh, there you are'? Cletus, you never cease to amaze me. While you were stuffing your face, we captured a live ScreelaK! No thanks to you!" "Well, excuse the piss outta me! I had my own mission to take care of. Not my fault the General wanted us split up" Jack pulled off his coat and threw it on the floor, the weapons in the pockets making a loud sound as they hit. Jack stepped in the kitchen. He noticed a stack of papers on the table. "Whats this?" Cletus looked up from his movie. "Oh, those are the final research papers we came up with on the tests. I took only 25cc of the stuff. We did numerous tests. Very promising stuff, too. I'd suggest you read it over" "Later" Jack grabbed a soda from the fridge. He stepped back into the small living room and sat on the couch. "Gimme the remote!" "NO! I'm watching this" "SCREW YOU! I want to watch 'Andy Griffith'! Now hand it over before I tear it from your fingers!" Cletus threw the rmeote down. "Fine....I'll just go watch it in my room" Cletus got up and moved up the stairs. Jack changed the channel, then dropped the remote. "Wait a minute.....YOU HAVE A SET IN YOUR ROOM? God dammit!" Cletus stuck his head over the railing. "Don't worry. They're bringing you one tomorrow, and a computer for both of us" "A computer? Why?" "Well, the General thought we could use it" "'The general thought...'. You know how that's going to work out. It will be so complex, it will break as soon as we hit one key. You can have it. I don't want it" "You act like you hate the things" "Well, I've never owned one, never used one, never seen one. And I don't plan on starting now" "Well, whatever you say. Listen, we have a mission Thursday. So get whatever rest you can" Cletus moved towards his door. He kept his patience with the young man. He knew Jack was blowing off steam, probably didn't think things out before he said them. After all, they had never been separated before, and while Cletus was on the emotional rollercoaster case, Jack had to face down one of those creatures. And he remembered Screelaks being no picnic. He simply stepped in his room and turned his television on, trying to ignore Jack whistling to the 'Andy Griffith' theme song. Thorsday was going to be another long day. 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 occurences. 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.