The red-tinted containment unit rolled down the airstrip silently, flanked by three men with microwave guns. They were shortly joined by a dozen other uniformed and plain-clothed officers. One of the three handed a clipboard to a police officer.
"I don't like it," he murmured.
"We don't want 'im here, either, chief," the cop replied, "And not today. My grandmother used to have a saying about the 17th of the month. 'Day of Disgrazia,' she used to--"
A red and black tendril burst out of the containment unit and lanced through the chest of one of the original three guards. His weapon bounced off the floor, his body was hurled a good twenty feet.
Colonel John Jameson and his remaining backup turned and fired. This was old hack for them by now. Carnage might not be the strongest or the fastest supervillain in the world, but he was quite possibly the best at escaping.
The two microwave beams ripped into Carnage's symbiote, pushing him back almost as far as he had pounced out of his latest hi-tech cage. But something was wrong. He should be on the floor by now.
Shit, Jameson realized, the containment cell must have malfunctioned. It was designed to give off enough microwave energy at intervals to keep the symbiote weak but not punish Cletus Kasady cruelly and unusually. Now the piece of crap seemed to be absorbing some of the juice out of their weapons. But now was not the time for strategy. Maneuvering Carnage away from the cage would be insanely risky.
"Give us a hand...chief," Jameson said to the stunned officer holding the clipboard, kicking over his slain partner's gun. The cop hesistated for a moment, but then shouldered the third microwave gun and fired.
That did it. Carnage, now reduced to a naked serial killer and a few sticky strands of stubborn symbiote, was blown back into the containment unit, shattering it, and fell out the other side. Jameson let out a breath that he didn't realize he was holding. Now to radio back to...
"What the hell?" A panting, wheezing Cletus Kasady shakily pull himself to his feet, ruby-colored shards jammed in his back, mixing his blood with the remnants of his symbiote. This was not standard operating procedure. The trauma of having his symbiote ripped to shreds should have knocked him out cold.
Jameson's walkie-talkie was to his mouth in a flash. "Jameson to base, Carnage is loose, officer down, microwave guns did not incapacitate. Repeat, Kasady is still standing."
"Permission to use maximum force, Colonel," the reply came. Jameson held back a grin. He'd been waiting a long time to hear that. If the court system couldn't put this son of a bitch to sleep, and no prison could keep him locked up, then...
John Jameson lowered his microwave gun to the floor, drew his .44 magnum, and blew Cletus Kasady away.
"I don't like it," he murmured.
"We don't want 'im here, either, chief," the cop replied, "And not today. My grandmother used to have a saying about the 17th of the month. 'Day of Disgrazia,' she used to--"
A red and black tendril burst out of the containment unit and lanced through the chest of one of the original three guards. His weapon bounced off the floor, his body was hurled a good twenty feet.
Colonel John Jameson and his remaining backup turned and fired. This was old hack for them by now. Carnage might not be the strongest or the fastest supervillain in the world, but he was quite possibly the best at escaping.
The two microwave beams ripped into Carnage's symbiote, pushing him back almost as far as he had pounced out of his latest hi-tech cage. But something was wrong. He should be on the floor by now.
Shit, Jameson realized, the containment cell must have malfunctioned. It was designed to give off enough microwave energy at intervals to keep the symbiote weak but not punish Cletus Kasady cruelly and unusually. Now the piece of crap seemed to be absorbing some of the juice out of their weapons. But now was not the time for strategy. Maneuvering Carnage away from the cage would be insanely risky.
"Give us a hand...chief," Jameson said to the stunned officer holding the clipboard, kicking over his slain partner's gun. The cop hesistated for a moment, but then shouldered the third microwave gun and fired.
That did it. Carnage, now reduced to a naked serial killer and a few sticky strands of stubborn symbiote, was blown back into the containment unit, shattering it, and fell out the other side. Jameson let out a breath that he didn't realize he was holding. Now to radio back to...
"What the hell?" A panting, wheezing Cletus Kasady shakily pull himself to his feet, ruby-colored shards jammed in his back, mixing his blood with the remnants of his symbiote. This was not standard operating procedure. The trauma of having his symbiote ripped to shreds should have knocked him out cold.
Jameson's walkie-talkie was to his mouth in a flash. "Jameson to base, Carnage is loose, officer down, microwave guns did not incapacitate. Repeat, Kasady is still standing."
"Permission to use maximum force, Colonel," the reply came. Jameson held back a grin. He'd been waiting a long time to hear that. If the court system couldn't put this son of a bitch to sleep, and no prison could keep him locked up, then...
John Jameson lowered his microwave gun to the floor, drew his .44 magnum, and blew Cletus Kasady away.