Maximum Carnage Issue 24: Double Team by Justin Anderson Wednesday, May 1st, 2002. 10:24 PM, New York It was the remains of an era. An era that was Carnage, an earlier time. It was his home. The animal's cage. The days even before the budget cuts. The days when Carnage was a bonding of man and alien. The days Cletus now worked to remove himself from. The remains stood. Call them what you will, but they had one name- Ravencroft. It was a shell of the old days. No longer an active home to the insane, a place to cure. They had built other locations for that. But it stood. A place for the damned. The incurable. Those even worse than Carnage, in their own minds. And she sat in the dark cell, the mold growing on the walls her only company. The guard walked down the hall, tired from his shift. Though even if he had been awake, he still may not have noticed the spike coming through the crack in the wall. The wall gave way slightly. Enough for the point to pass through. Red liquid poured in and took shape, holding the rocks so as not to make the slightest noise. The creature, formed to its fullest, looked around. '...yes.... familiar' It thought quietly, as it had plans. The guard had his back to the thing, as he continued his march. It slowly stepped up behind him, moving the twenty or so feet without a sound. There was also no sound as it shot a spike through the man's neck, the blob covering his mouth to muffle the scream. It stepped up to the cell. Sticking its hand on the lock, it made it's way inside with the amorphous form, unlocking the solid steel door. She lay on the floor. "Shriek." She looked up but said nothing. "I need your help, Shriek..." Before she could even move, Domientius wrapped her in a layer of symbiotic material, preventing her from moving or making even a sound. Grabbing her, he returned to the hole he had crawled through. "Roberts to Jameson- CARNAGE HAS BROKEN INTO THE PREMISES!" the voice shouted nearby. The guard threw the radio down as he and the others rose their weapons. The order came through: "- Open fire! LETHAL FORCE!" The guns went off, bullets tearing into the eight foot frame. Carnage didn't even react. He simply placed his left hand on the wall. The trail crept along the brick lining, reaching the guards. The spike which shot out pierced two. The third ran off. Carnage dropped them and left the building. 10:48 PM Colonel Jameson was trying to calm the poor man down. It had been Carnage, all right. Shriek was now missing. But hadn't Carnage been locked away, separate from Cletus? It had to be Carnage, in some form. They shot him and he didn't flinch. Not to mention his height. He turned as the door opened. His eyes widened as he saw who entered. "Cletus?" "Jameson.... no time for introductions. What happened?" Cletus demanded. He ignored Jack entering the room and picked the report up from the console. He handed it to the former prisoner. "Let's see... he took Shriek. Jack, we'd better go. Jameson, call doc Kafka. DON'T call the police! We'll do that!" he shouted. 10:56 PM Cletus shoved the coins in the phone, not taking the time to count change. He hit the numbers as he looked in the phone book. The line picked up. "- Parker residence" the voice answered. It was a woman's voice. Mary Jane. "I need Peter on the line now!" "- who is this? Cletus? That you?" a second voice said. "Yeah, Parker. Listen, did Venom contact you?" Cletus asked. "- He's here now. You need to-" "No time. Listen, Carnage busted Shriek out! I need you and Eddie on standby. DON'T move unless we need you to! We've alerted the authorities. I have to go." He hung up without waiting for a reply. He ran back to the car and jumped in. "Parker's alerted. So's Venom...." "Okay, where next?" Jack demanded. Cletus replied, "Damned if I know... wish I didn't have to put doc Kafka on alert, but I'd feel better with her in charge on a matter like this as far as local stuff is concerned." 10:58 PM Carnage sat her down in a barren area in the woods. He had traveled far enough from the asylum. He wouldn't free her just yet. She'd either run, or fight back. Then he'd have to kill her. And he was going to need her help. The Screelaks were pure muscle, but too stupid to fight back effectively. He'd need someone stupid enough to follow his orders, but intelligent enough to fight back effectively. "Cletus Kasady has become a hero. A vigilante. My name is Domientius, the symbiote is now mine. We are Carnage. Cletus will most likely come after you after he has defeated me. He tried to kill you once before, now he'll try again because he considers you a disease to all the good and innocent people of this planet. There are no good people, no innocent people. Help me stop Cletus Kasady." He was playing on her emotions. Altering the truth well enough so that she may actually believe him and willingly accept his offer. He tore the symbiotic wrap free from her face. "Do you accept my offer?" Thursday, May 2nd. 1:06 PM They had left a bloody trail across the city. Property damage, a few bodies, some fires.... the name Maximum Carnage spread around town with Carnage leading a killing spree. It was enough to make Jack hit the gas across town. The trail led to the docks along Manhattan. It was a trap. Both of them knew it. Stopping at the end of the trail, both men gathered as many weapons as they could. Shoot to kill. Venom joined them. "They in there?" Cletus asked. "YES! We saw them go in." Jack made his way to the nearest building. "Okay, Eddie.... where's Spider-Man?" "Helping the injured," he said. "Good. You stay here. We may need backup. And a Screelak could always stick their neck out, you never know." Cletus was surprised they weren't all over the city by now. There must not have been as many as they thought. He ran off to join his partner as Venom went back to his watch. They made their way around the buildings, watching and listening. The place had been abandoned. Probably cleared out when they heard of the approach. Assuming they weren't all dead. Jack shoved the door open. It squealed horribly from the rusted hinges. So much for sneaking in. The scene was a blur. A blade swung at them, Jack dodging as he returned fire. He couldn't tell if he'd hit anything. He couldn't find Cletus anywhere. The maze of wooden crates and massive containers made finding anything nearly impossible. Too many corners to turn, too many places for someone to hide. Gun shots in the distance let him know where Cletus was. This information was almost useless to him, however. Sonic bursts rained down on him from above. He ducked away down the maze. Shriek was following him. Cletus had his hands full trying to dodge Carnage. Tendrils flew at him, trying to slice him into hamburger. He returned fire from an Ingram M11. He was hitting Carnage, he knew. The gun fired at a massive rate, sending bullets in a spray. To not hit your target with this gun was nearly impossible. Jack was not having the same luck with his 12-gauge. Even if he could pinpoint a target, it was gone before he could even fire. And the spread of the shot, combined with the size of each pellet, made the shells nearly useless on a distant target. Hitting someone at that distance would do little good. He shoved the gun in his belt, reaching for a Desert Eagle. He hit the floor as a sonic burst took him in the back. The blast hadn't hurt much, but he was dazed. He could still hear the guns going off in the distance. He was turned onto his back. Shriek stood above him, keeping an eye on his every movement. Carnage had told her nothing about Jack, other than the fact he existed. And that she was to keep him occupied. Jack knew very little about Shriek. Just her powers and the fact she had worked with Carnage once before. He had seen only one picture of her. It was a standoff. She held his arms down. She was fairly strong. Jack could probably kick free, throwing his weight into his feet just enough to break free. But he'd probably be blasted before he could run. And he was starting to have doubts as to whether or not he could shoot her. Men seemed no real problem to him, he knew what went on in their minds. But women, he'd never had the occasion to. And Shriek played out as a classic case of victim conditioning. Did she even know what she was doing? Did he? Were these reasons the truth, or just an excuse? After all, despite the drugs in his system, he couldn't help but notice the skin tight black costume she wore, cut down showing off her cleavage. But it made little difference, after all, she probably wanted to kill him, and he'd have to figure out a plan to escape. Besides, she was working with Carnage. This was reason enough not to trust her. The wrapping may have been attractive, but he was more worried about what was packaged inside. Shriek looked him over. He was about her age, she guessed. She had no interest in the weapons he was packing, nor in the fighting in the distance. "You're Jack?" she asked. He didn't answer. She straddled his chest. He was going to have to try and kick free. As he prepared to throw his feet forward, he was stunned as shriek said, "You're cute!" 1:17 PM Cletus was growing tired of the game he had been playing. Dodging blades as they swung for him had become old long ago. He loaded two of the Ingrams, looking for Carnage. He'd finish this now. He didn't care if he had to find a gas main and send this entire warehouse into orbit, he was going to end this now. He found Carnage rather quickly. Merely standing in place. He couldn't tell what was happening. Shriek had her arms around Jack. He could easily free himself, but not this close too Carnage. He was completely unarmed. "Can I keep him?" she asked. Jack muffled something, incoherent under Shriek's hand over his mouth. "Hmm... why not? I'll settle for Cletus Kasady's death, you may keep this one as a personal... slave, pet, whatever you wish. Now leave me alone!" Carnage shouted. Cletus opened fire. The bullets passed through Carnage, hitting solid wood. Shriek began to drag Jack away. He struggled, but she was stronger than he'd even expected. Besides, if he struggled too hard, he'd probably break her arms. And whatever his reasons, he couldn't bring himself to hurt her. Cletus kept firing, Carnage merely laughing off the attempt. He was silenced, however, as a sonic blast splattered the symbiotic mass he had been using as a head. It had not been Shriek, the blast had come from above. The shape dropped through the ceiling, onto the crates, and down to the floor. "Great. The Shocker" Cletus uttered under his breath. "I made a dea-" "Save it!" he shouted. He didn't want to hear the story now. Carnage had begun to seep through the cracks in the floor. Both men fired, shock vibrations and bullets catching the mass, but not enough to do any good. "Where's your partner?" Shocker asked. Shriek has already drug him away. "All right," Cletus said, "help me find them. Remember, this IS Shriek we're dealing with." Shriek had drug Jack to a far corner of the warehouse. He still tried to break free, but still resisted hurting her in the process. She finally pinned him against a wall. "Don't fight it. I don't know what he told you about me, but I'm not a bad girl. I'm just lonely." "You murdered a few people, too," he replied. "And you haven't? I've heard the news. It gets around." She had him on a technicality, and he knew it. The technicalities added up in his head rather fast. How long until she mentions that his partner used to be Carnage, responsible for hundreds of deaths? And that he always ignored that fact? And how many people had he shot? Probably unnecessarily? Without remorse, without feeling? True, she may have even enjoyed her murders, but he couldn't say that he had felt disgust every time he pulled the trigger. He had little right to bring up any of these issues, he was just as guilty. Even if she was saying it in a vain attempt at flirting with him. He was also becoming quite attracted to her. The confined space, not to mention the threat involved and his desire not to hurt her, plus the fact he had always dodged the issue of love were catching up to him. His brain was shouting a series of orders, to flee, to find Cletus, to get out of this nightmare, but he was not paying attention. He was listening to the small portion of himself that he'd never listened to before, telling him that he could run off with her. Why not? Deep down, it was something he wanted. "I knew it... I can see it in your eyes. You like the idea," she said. "I do like the idea, in a way..." The voice was almost not his own. At least, not the Jack Arden that ran the show all the time. "But you're a murderer." "Maybe I can quit, if you give me a reason to," she replied. The answer almost satisfied him. But his brain, and even this portion of himself, knew the answer wasn't quite good enough. But despite what his brain thought, the piece in control was content to let it be. She pressed against him. Her face drew towards his, and despite his brain somehow forcing him to pull back, their lips still met. Jack, after a few seconds, began to lean into it almost uncontrollably. Besides, she still had him pinned to the wall. "There!" The Shocker ran up from behind. Shriek broke the kiss, turning and firing at him. Shocker returned his own volley. the blasts were nearly the same thing, sonic vibrations coming from varied sources, but doing much the same thing. Jack, regaining his composure, ran. Cletus drew a pistol, firing at Shriek. A dart hit her shoulder. She dropped to the floor, asleep. "What took you so freaking LONG? Were you TRYING to take your time?" he scolded. "I'm completely unarmed here! Shocker?" Jack paused. The brain was once again in control. He'd forgotten about Shriek. "Where's Carnage?" 2:10 PM The police covered the area, as did the military. Shriek had been strapped down to a stretcher, still unconscious. "Jack, what happened in there, anyway?" Cletus asked. "We'll discuss it in the car." He was not in the mood to discuss it at all, but knew Cletus would not let it drop. Jack turned to Spider-Man and Venom. "Okay, you two, get out there! Carnage is running loose. I want to know where he is! But don't approach him!" Parker nodded and ran off. "We will let you know!" Venom said, leaving for the rooftops. The Shocker stood beside a few prison guards. "Time we told you two. Shocker volunteered to help, on the grounds he turned himself back in when he was finished." "I get it," Cletus said. "He's still ticked off at Electro so bad, he'll help us just to spite the guy!" 2:14 PM Jack drove down the busy street. The police, military, and others busy with the cleanup made traffic slow. He turned the radio off. "Okay, Cletus, let's clarify a few things. I didn't see any point in killing her. She's a confused woman, lied to all her life most likely. I see no reason to kill her for what Domientius did." "I know, but... I saw you! You were leaning into it, I know! I saw it, you like her!" "Of course not," Jack replied. "She's a killer. I don't care how hot- just... drop it! I'm not in the mood. Carnage is still out there." 2:18 PM Domientius sat in the dark room below the warehouse. Just enough time to think. He was weakening. The effort in keeping the symbiote in this form required a lot of concentration, and that sonic burst the Shocker had dealt him had done far worse than it appeared. he symbiote needed blood, it needed to feed, and he wasn't feeding it. This body would soon be useless to him. The times had changed, he was no longer a threat to this planet. But he would fight this to the end. If Earth could not be his, he would at least go out with dignity. He would go out fighting. 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.