Chapter Two: Carnage

WEEKS AGO

Cletus has been hiding in the city dump for months. While this is out not necessity, he enjoys the solitude. The smell.

Cletus knows he's brilliant. He talks to an alien every day. An alien that selected him. Out of the billions of people on this planet, only Cletus was superior enough for selection as a host. The alien tells him this and more. But now he has a new friend as well.

A cloaked figure steps out of the shadows.

DD: Am I speaking with Cletus or the alien?

Cletus: Both. You are speaking to Carnage.

DD: Very good. You know what I want?

Carnage: Us.

DD: Yes, but I need it targeted. And I need you to understand why.

Carnage: I don't care as long as I can get close to someone.

DD: What do you mean?

Carnage: When their lights go out. You need to be close to them. While they're in your arms they become part of you. Kinda like the alien becoming part of me. It knew me. It knew I like becoming part of them. Close to them.

DD: Can you get close to some people for me?

Carnage: Anyone.

DD: Not just anyone. I need you to assassinate targets for me…in the personal way you just described.

Carnage: From which political party?

DD: Neither.

Carnage: But this is an assassination?

DD: Our political leaders are not the engine because America is not a democracy. It is a business. The people of this country have never directed their energies in the right place. The people I need targeted are the ones who run this country. Here.

DD throws a Manila envelope on the table. On the front are the words, "Atlas". Carnage opens it. It contains pictures of various individuals.

DD: Those are major senior executives of Fortune 500 companies. Get close to all of them.

Carnage: And afterwards?

DD: Afterwards you will be viewed a hero. Mass murder scores of children and you're a monster. But, remove the Plutocrats and you're ahead of curve. A liberator. You're ahead of the curve, right Carnage? That's why the alien chose you. It knew you had a unique insight of this world. You understand the necessity of death. Of transformation. I need that insight and power to be directed to where it can make the largest impact in this world. Imagine how it will feel to watch the lights go out on those who hold everything together? The key masters. The cage owners. The Atlas. They are Power. But powerful alignments that haven't occurred in over 200 years are happening now. I have discovered the source these forms…archetypes. I am controlling these waves by sympathetically redirecting and channeling the inevitability of their manifestation. When the powerful die, everything is transformed. Does that sound like a suitable feast for you, Carnage?

Carnage: You have the power to make people see this?

DD: I do.

Carnage: And you are?

DD: I am reckoning. I am dread.

A large smile stretches ear to ear across Carnage's face.

PRESENT DAY. THE FEDERAL RESERVE.

Captain America: What do you want?

DD: I want you to stand down, Captain. Let my men pass.

Captain America: Not a chance.

DD: So, you're prepared for this bomb to go off? This is the choice you are making here?

A small voice interrupts.

Ant-Man: He doesn't have to! The bomb is deactivated, Captain!

DD: What?!

Captain America: You didn't think that Daredevil and I came alone, did you?

DD: It doesn't matter. We have the Secretary and our armies are heading to all the reserve banks as we speak. Nuke! Punisher! I am teleporting you now!

At that moment, all three individuals fade away as another figure teleports in.

It is Doctor Strange.

Doctor Strange: Steve Rogers!

Captain America: Strange! Just in time. We need your help.

Doctor Strange: All in good time, but there are more pressing, immediate concerns. We can't talk here. There is much going on that you don't understand. Things that have been in motion for years. It is so much worse than you would ever imagine.

Captain America: Worse than destabilizing America's economy?

Doctor Strange: That's just a symptom. The cause has been subtle and pervasive and goes back…

Strange pauses and looks down.

Doctor Strange: …I honestly don't know how long it has been underway. I need you to come with me, but first we need Bruce Banner and Charles Xavier.

Daredevil is touching his temples and grimacing in pain.

Daredevil: Won't the Hulk make this worse? These opposing armies are Americans, you know.

Doctor Strange: We don't need the Hulk. We need Dr. Banner. Bruce is one of the most powerful beings in the universe. He just doesn't know it yet.

Captain America: Matt, what's wrong?

Daredevil: My radar sense is going crazy. I'm seeing auras covering the images of people. There are symbols circling Strange.

Doctor Strange: You are witnessing subtle bodies and planetary glyphs. Your abilities are changing. Enhancing. I don't have time to explain right now. We will need to speak with Enoch, but first we must find Bruce. Please. There is much to do and little time. Step inside the pentagram.

A giant pentagram materializes on the ground just below where Strange is hovering. All three individuals step inside and then fade away.