Maximum Carnage Issue 3/4 by Justin Anderson He watched. He watched them all. Scientists, military personnel, everyone. They ignored him. He was in prison. He had been bonded with an amorphous alien creature, which at this moment, was stuck in a large glass cylinder. He couldn't leave it, not in this world. He had no power, and none of his artifacts. He hated this. His biggest attempt at taking over this world, stopped by a former vessel and a third grade dropout. Humans, no less. And this symbiote argued with him in their melded mind. He'd had enough today. He fell asleep. He woudld have his dreams to keep him entertained. T small wooden table sat in a room. Atrificial light brightened the area around the table, the rest of the room completely dark. One chair sat an old man, dressed in stained gray robes. He held a large, brown book in front of him. The other man, a large, vile king, dressed in black cloth. The third seat was absent, a large red, mutated, winged dinosaur sitting in its place. A fourth walked up to the table and sat down. It was Carnage. "Welcome, former selves! It's a rare occasion to meet like this! I would have invited mu future selves, but I don't want to ruin any surprises" The old one sat down his book. "Yes.... Carnage, as you are called. So, what got you?" "Eh, you know how these creatures become more advanced. Who knew they would discover immortality? .....and explosives. And the heart's weakness. Which, I may add, is all the third guy's fault!" The warlord stood. "Right, like I would allow two humans to take me out!" The old wizard turned in his seat. "Yes.... you have your own followers to do that nicely!" The dragon pointed his head towards the others. "The two humans are both right. But the three of you messed up somewhere. And that was in having folowers with brains. My spawn have no problems doing as I command..." "Oh, sure! The Krylakks! Wizard didn't have them, tall, dark, and pathetic didn't use them to their fullest, and they didn't even bother do help me! You may be a big lizard, but you're scraping the bottom of the barrel in terms of troops! And all three of you have the cheapest bodies imaginable!" The wizard stood. "Now, wait just a minute. My body may be weak, but the magic I command is unbeatable! And I'm the only form of Domientius to live a full life!" The warlord pulled his sword. "And I am a perfect physical specimin!" Carnage placed his left hand over his face. "Oh, right... cut your balls off as a kid, then you get taken out by a knife to the ribs. The average 'World's Strongest Man' competitor could take you out! At least I'm a malleable form! Weapons have no effect!" "But you clearly have no tolerance for fire!" "Old man, I'd like to see how long you last if you got torched! I'll get a can of galoline right now and test it!" The large creature slammed its fist down on the table. "The three of you...SHUT UP! I've had enough of this argument. I honestly can't believe I become all of you" "And I can't believe I'm having this dream... but he's right. Arguing will get us nowhere." "Fine. First, third, and fourth, I think it would be best to discuss our mistakes so they never happen again" "What mistakes? I made only one....compassion. Giving Raicaak a new form in death" "Raicaak, Raicaak....that's all you ever talk about! Where was he when I needed him in Alt-World?" "Raicaak was very loyal! More than those Krylakks!" The creature stood, its wings spreading. "NO ONE WILL INSULT MY CHILDREN!" Thunder bolts shot from the sky, striking one, three, and four. "SIT DOWN! Don't make me do that again. Now....as I was saying-" The wizard was cut short as the creature picked him up in its jaws and swallowed him whole. "Oh, real scary! You ate the second form! You could have at least eaten muscle head instead..." "THAT IS IT! You are a failure, Carnage. No wonder you don't use the name Domientius! YOU AREN'T FIT TO WEAR THE TITLE!" "Oh.....I have had JUST ABOUT ENOUGH of you...." The warlord drew his sword, while Carnage formed a large, spiked blade from his right arm. "I hope you two kill each other. I have monkeys to return to.....eating, that is" The two faced each other. The warlord swung his sword, the attack blocked by a hard shield panel from Carnage's left arm. Carnage swung and slashed a deep cut in his past form's chest. In a rage, the warlord swung his sword again, stabbing deep through Carnage, but it was a waste, as Carnage was a symbiote. They continued to slash and swing at each other. The creature walked forward, and as they two stabbed each other deep through the stomach, the creature bit down....but it was a mistake. Spikes pierced his skull. The three slipped away. The creature raised his head. Looking around, he saw a few of his lizard spawn pacing around, munching on bones. The usual. The waizard sat up. He was in the section of his caves where he kept his liquids used for experimentation. Looking down at the mixture he had drank before falling asleep, he poured it out. The warlord sat up in his bed. It had been a very long day, and clearly, staying up for as long as he had didn't make sleep any more peaceful. But what were those things? Carnage woke as another mild dose of microwave radiation hit him. He received these on the hour. He had rememebred his past forms, and couldn't believe he used to be them. He had even remembered having those dreams in the past, though the pictures were never quite clear. Had he truly met himself in the past? Or was it just a recurring nightmare with the pictures replaced as time went on? Worse, had he really behaved like that in his past lives? In his shared mind, Domientius felt the symbiote coming out of its own dreams. "That was weird. I dreamed I had taken over Santa Claus instead of Cletus. I found some way to make present delivery more efficient, allowing us to do the Easter Bunny's job at the same time, and...." "Oh....SHUT UP!" THE END Author's Notes: This was inspired by the countless Dr. Who stories where several versions meet each other and find out they're not exactly the same person. 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.