Chapter 4

Commuter's Nightmare.

The figure appeared. Slowly, at first, sliding gently down into the tunnel. It moved like a human, but it was definitely something more than a human. It positively radiated malicious feelings, and hate. The creature was enveloped in a pulsating red and black suit; like Venom's, only Venom's had been smooth. The suit on the creature facing Spiderman had a very erratic surface. Its face was similar to a human's, only with slits for a nose, needle teeth, the red and black suit-skin, and huge white eyes.

The creature straightened up, and smiled, its lips peeling back to reveal horrifically stained, but still deadly-looking, needle teeth. The creature was smaller, less muscular than Venom, but Spiderman knew, knew without being able to explain why, that it was more powerful than Venom ever dreamed of. Spiderman's mind raced; he had to find something that would create sufficiently loud noise to stun the creature, the symbiote.

"Eddie…" Spiderman extended his hand, trying to buy time. "You don't have to do this. I don't know how you survived, but you almost died because of the suit! And now, the suit has evolved, Eddie! It'll control you completely!"

The creature suddenly threw back its head and laughed, a high-pitched scream of malicious delight. "We are not Eddie Brock! Our old 'grandpa', the so-called Venom, was merely a weak fool, residing with an equally weak human. We are more powerful than they could ever be. We are Carnage!"

We? They? Ah, the suit and its wearer. But how did another of these… things manage to find its way into New York?

Spiderman prepared to speak again, but was interrupted as Carnage raised one of his wiry arms. The clawed hand on the end of the arm suddenly began to pulse and morph. It turned into a semi-circular red blade, like an axe-head. Carnage laughed again, and pounced.

Spiderman leapt to the side at the last second, dodging Carnage's sweeping attack with the blade. A train rumbled forward at high speeds, its running lights casting golden pools on Spiderman as it sped towards the jumping web-spinner.

Spiderman back-flipped, just dodging the train as it sped past, creating a temporary barrier between him and Carnage.

However, the barrier wasn't around for long. The train was gone a few seconds later, and Carnage pounced.

Spiderman twisted to the side, dodging Carnage's swing with the blade. But the monster's other hand came up and hit Spiderman in the jaw with an incredibly powerful punch. The wall-crawler was knocked to the side by the punch, flying into the air. He smacked off the tunnel ceiling, and then landed on the tracks, bouncing and rolling out into the bridge-crossed pit.

A second later, Carnage pressed the attack. The insane murderer leapt forward, bringing his right leg out in a snap-kick just as Spiderman got to his feet.

The kick propelled the wall-crawler off of the bridge, sending him tumbling down for fifty feet before he slammed into the subway tracks of another bridge.

Tendrils of pain shot up Spiderman's back, paralysing his legs as he lay on the tracks. He could hear a train rumbling towards him, seconds away. His Spider-Sense tingled, but he couldn't move his legs. The train would flatten him in less than twenty seconds.

Carnage's dark figure suddenly appeared, plunging towards Spiderman.

The wall-crawler gritted his teeth and extended both arms, sending criss-crossing lines of web flying into the air and attaching to walls, creating a temporary net to stop Carnage.

But the monster just kept coming, twisting into a dive and extending his blade-hand forward, slicing easily through Spiderman's web.

Grunting, Spiderman fired more web-lines. A few of the strands caught Carnage, slowing his descent. But now the oncoming train was almost on top of Spiderman!

Carnage suddenly broke free from his web-restraints, resuming his plunge towards the helpless wall-crawler.

"Argh!" grunted Spiderman, firing two smell 'web-bombs' from his wrists. The small blobs of web knocked Carnage off target, so that the monster's blade hit just centimetres to the left of Spiderman's head instead of cleaving his skull.

The rest of Carnage's body landed with a clang, winding Spiderman. The lunatic screamed and leapt off of Spiderman's form just as the train came within ten metres of the web-spinner.

Spiderman screamed again and fired two web-lines at Carnage's rapidly ascending form as the monster leapt to safety. The webs attached themselves to Carnage's back, and Spiderman grabbed the webs as they jerked. He was pulled off the tracks just as the train thundered across.

Spiderman twisted in mid-air as Carnage fired a tendril of hard web at the web-spinner's throat. The web shot past, and the feeling returned to Spiderman's legs.

Raising his slightly numb legs, Spiderman kicked out. Carnage screamed as his leap was turned into a frantic tumble. Spiderman grabbed the monster as it fell, and the two became locked into a desperate falling fight.

Spiderman gained the advantage by pressing his hands just above Carnage's eyes, and releasing a spray of web. The web shot into Carnage's eyes, blinding the creature. With an eye-watering knee-kick to Carnage's groin, Spiderman leapt out of the fray and landed on the pit's wall, sticking to it as the blinded creature fell.

Carnage screamed an ear-splitting hissing roar that shook the walls of the pit. A second later, the monster tore the blinding web from its eyes, and fired a web up at Spiderman.

The wall-crawler saw the attack coming, and pushed off from the wall, landing just to the left of a train track. Carnage's web, instead of dragging Spiderman onto one of the train tracks and probably ending his life, secured itself to a wall and stopped Carnage's descent.

Spiderman leapt upwards, landing atop a sewage pipe. He then leapt again, looking for an escape route; Carnage's strength was incredible, and there was no way that he could match it, toe to toe in a fight.

A sudden tingling sensation formed itself in the back of Spiderman's mind, and the superhero threw himself to the side. A second later, a metal beam, ripped from a track by Carnage, flew past Spiderman.

I can detect his attacks when he throws something at me... Spiderman was already twisting to land on his feet when Carnage's web caught him by the leg. The wall-crawler was jerked off his feet as Carnage leapt into the air, pulling his hand-blade back, ready to strike.

Spiderman stuck himself firmly to the train-bridge, and Carnage's blade missed by a bare centimetre. The web released, and the wall-crawler backflipped into the air, over Carnage's head.

Landing on yet another bridge, Spiderman stood directly in front of an oncoming train, just as Carnage leapt at him.

Spiderman fired a web from his right wrist, securing Carnage by the feet, stepping back, and jerking the monster forward. The train shot in front of Spiderman, forming a solid barrier between Carnage and the wall-crawler. The web-line attached to Carnage snapped, but the monster's own momentum carried him into the train. The monster crashed right through the steel walls of the train, and tumbled off the bridge. It was then that Spiderman's Spider-Sense tingled so acutely he thought his head would explode.

The beam that Carnage threw at me! That was part of a train track! Spiderman thought, whirling and concentrating on following his Spider-Sense's tingle. He leapt straight up and then flipped forward, landing on a bridge. His sense told him that the bridge he stood on was the one that had part of the track missing. Spiderman whirled, and saw a section of the track where the right beam was missing.

Oh dear, thought Spiderman. His Spider-Sense tingled again, and he realised that a train would be on the broken track in just a few minutes. The train would derail, and many would die! Spiderman knew it was time for desperate measures.

"Ah! You didn't think you would escape us so easily?" shrieked Carnage as he leapt to engage Spiderman!