Chapter 7

The sounds of anarchy, civil unrest and terror had become distant memories for the people of Crystal Tokyo. The audio track that had once been the usual for people living in the big American cities had been replaced by chirping birds and rustling leaves. The peace and prosperity that the benevolent King Endyimon and Neo-Queen Serenity had provided made those throwbacks to humanity's former existence before the 'Great Sleep' almost completely vanish from the minds of the general population.

People were now not afraid to leave their homes at night and were willing to trust each other on just their word again. Individuals helped each other without any hesitation or question whether they were friends or not with the other person. They did it so not for the expectation of personal compensation but because it was simply the right thing to do. Day after day the general atmosphere of the kingdom had become similar to that of a sleepy rural or small town. No dramatic scenes such as police or fire trucks racing through the streets with their sirens blaring, no gunshots breaking through the quiet air that hung over the city and no alarms or bells that were the signals of crimes in progress. It was the vision of the perfect safe haven for many people and was the real-life embodiment of Sir Thomas Moore's 'Utopia'. Everyone knew everybody and they all rolled up their sleeves and pitched in to make each other's lives that much easier.

The pleasant and peaceful co-existence among the residents of Crystal Tokyo was enough to make Carnage want to kneel over and throw up. He couldn't stand all this "Mayberry" kindness and southern hospitality. He took great comfort in that on this particular day those call backs to how the world used to be would once again be loud and clear.

He walked along the street in the northern section of Crystal Tokyo known as the Durham district. As he walked through the crowds of pedestrians which filled the street the civilians he passed each nodded their heads with a smile and some even wished him a 'good afternoon'. He had to force out a response each time that didn't sound like he was fighting the urge to impale the person on one of his symbiote's organic spikes. He needed to do something about this quiet atmosphere fast or he just might throw himself off the nearest cliff.

He stopped walking and turned his head to the left as he looked at a small variety store that he had often shopped at when he was still a pawn of the Sailors and the royal couple. He evilly smiled as he decided that this would the most appropriate spot to burst the bubble that these people were currently living in.

Less than seven minutes later people were running in all directions as they were trying desperately to escape the unexpected horror that threatened their very lives. Screams and howls of absolute fear and intense pain filled the air along with the faint wet sounds of things being broken apart and tossed around from inside the store. As the people inside fled the shop and rushed through the streets the sight of them running and some of them even being covered in blood had caused other people who were still unaware of the reason for the stampede to panic as well. This caused the unrest and chaos to spread like wildfire throughout the district.

Carnage was enjoying the bedlam that he had created as he emerged from the store and proceeded to casually stroll down the street. It had been quite amusing to him when he saw the reaction of the shopkeeper when he had initially entered the store. The young man had smiled at him as he immediately recognized one of Crystal Tokyo's main protectors and warmly welcomed him to his humble establishment. Carnage had played along with the ruse by wishing the shopkeeper a pleasant afternoon as well and even engaged in some small talk as he approached the cashier's counter. He turned his body to the side as he leaned against the counter in a casual manner and turned his head around as they talked so that he could scan the other people in the store with them.

Carnage smiled as he fondly remembered the look on the shopkeeper's face when he pushed away from the counter and approached the nearest male patron from behind grabbed and lifted the man up with one arm before gripping his head with the other. There was a brief pause before he yanked hard with the hand holding onto the head. That look of complete shock and disbelief at what the young store owner had just witnessed had been absolutely priceless. Blood had spurted everywhere from the arterial spray that erupted from the stump that had once been the young man's neck as his heart continued to beat. The resulting screams as the other patrons reacted to the horrible act would have been music to his ears if he had any. The sight of the frozen blood stained expression of surprise on the face on the patron's head as his headless body fell against the grocery shelf in front of it had sent a warm and fuzzy sensation throughout his body.

He had then proceeded to grab and ensnare anyone that was still within the small store with his symbiotic tendrils and take his time with them. He twisted one woman's head completely around as he mirrored a memorable scene from a horror movie he had seen growing up. He had practiced his accuracy on moving targets by shooting people with symbiotic spears, darts and arrows as they tried to desperately reach the front or back exits. However he was the most proud of the way he had taken out the last person in the store before he had left.

He had been just about to leave when he heard the unmistakable sounds of a person sobbing. He had gleefully followed the soft murmurs until he found the young store owner cowering behind the counter. He reached down and grabbed the man with his left arm and lifted him up off the ground with ease as the symbiote's natural strength made the man's body feel like a sheet of paper. As the man cried out in absolute fear a part of Carnage's skin on his chest formed into a saw blade and in a blur of red-ish movement, cut off the man's nose as easily as a knife going through a stick of butter. The severed appendage fell to the ground beside Carnage's right foot as blood spurted from the man's face in time with his rapidly pounding heart. He had then dropped the man and confidently strutted out into the street as the man's screams followed him outside as he continued to bleed out.

The sight that had welcomed him when he stepped back outside was something that he had not been expecting. The people, who had not run off yet or were still unsure of what exactly was going on, were standing in their doorways or just outside of their houses. Each of them was wearing expressions that varied from confusion to looks of fear or concern on their faces. Some of them that were close enough to him took notice of the bloody footprints he had left as he had exited the store. This caused them to immediately start to visibly shake and nervously swallow. If they had been even closer they might have also been able to see the fresh and still wet blood against his moving red symbiotic skin from the nose man or the several other victims left inside the store.

He abruptly stopped and stood in the centre of the street directly outside the shop. He scanned the area in front of him from the left to the right and took note of each of the numerous onlookers that were staring back at him. A couple of mothers were tightly holding their young children close to them as they instinctively tried to protect them from the unholy monster that had invaded their quiet and up until now safe neighbourhood.

To his left a small group of blue-collar looking young men were slowly advancing towards him. Several of them were holding various objects such as a thick handled broomstick meat cleavers or metal wrenches of various sizes. He grinned with amusement as he watched them approach him in a pathetic attempt to intimidate him but failing miserably to hide their clear nervousness and trepidation.

"Oh goody, I was afraid this was going to get boring!"

He fully turned his body to face the make-shift mod with a playful-looking hop. The visual sight of his rippling-muscled body frame underneath the constantly swirling red alien skin caused some of his would-be challengers to nervously swallow as the anxiety quickly built up inside them. Carnage's skin flowed with black patterns as they suddenly formed and then quickly disappeared from sight. Parts of the living costume seemed to drip off the edges of the body frame it was covering and fell down to the ground before merging back with the original mass. His fingers stretched out into long thin razor claws with nails that were curled into needlepoint tips. As a final gesture to show his lack of respect for the threat they posed to him he tilted his head repeatedly to the left and right like a boxer getting ready for the opening bell of a match.

It was at that point that four guys rushed forward. One of them wielded a sledgehammer while another was holding a large pipe wrench. The other two men were both thickly muscled and much larger than the average man. Their clothing attires suggested that they were either contractors or construction workers. They moved forward behind the two armed men with their fists raised. Their intent was to knock Carnage out with one punch. The two pairs of amateur heroes covered the short distance between them and the demonic monstrosity in less than five seconds.

"Bring it fellas, show me what you got!"

Carnage ducked under the wild swing from the wrench attacker before landing a solid upwards uppercut to the man's solar plexus. He put his full body weight into his counter-attack by using his legs to push up which increased the physical force of his blow. The impact lifted the man off of his feet and sent him sailing backwards which caused him to collide with the couple of muscled attackers. A sickening crack filled the air all around them as it let everyone know that more than one rib bone had just been broken in the man's chest.

Carnage briefly laughed out loud as he watched the collision and the men's struggle to get back to their feet afterwards. In his temporary lack of focus he missed the broomstick male and another one that had managed to move through the crowd without him noticing. They had both been able to get around him and were now approaching him together from behind. The unarmed man picked up a moderate sized block of stone that was lying on the curb of the street as he advanced towards Carnage. He raised it above his head and threw it as hard as he could at the back of the black and red head of the murderous abomination.

A tendril formed on the back of Carnage's head and caught the block like how a professional baseball player would catch an underhand throw from a child. He turned around to face his surprise attacker as saliva dripped from his razor teeth. The tendril held the block up so that it was still visible and not obstructed by his head. The curved angle of the organic strand made it look like a scorpion's tail.

"So you want to play catch, huh?"

The stone slab shot back at the man so fast that he didn't even have time to put up his hands to block it. The stone chunk struck the man square in the chest and sent him crashing backwards onto his back. The weight and force of the impact caused the brick to remain on top of the guy's body. There was another series of sickening cracks that could be heard over the screams and chaos that had quickly engulfed the area. They were the signals that the guy's ribcage had been broken multiple times just like his friend a few seconds earlier. The impact did not kill the man instantously but as he lay on the ground with the stone hunk on top of him blood began to spurt from his mouth which was the indication that the internal bleeding he had suffered was slowly and painfully killing him.

Not hesitating for a second Carnage spun his arms in a pair of backwards swipes that connected with the other attacker. As he swung his left arm he formed two long slightly curved razor sharp blades on the back of each hand. The sharp knives acted like a sword slicing clean through the broomstick the guy was wielded first before slashing across his mid-section with the right hand. The force of the second swipe halted the guy's advance and sent him hurdling in the direction of the swing's arch. He hit the side of a building and immediately collapsed to the ground as his intestines spilled out into his lap.

After seeing the quick and brutal ways that Carnage had dispatched their colleagues the remaining members of the mob were slowly backing away from him. The two remaining members of the initial four attackers had managed to pick themselves up after their collision with their friend. One of the muscled men was using a sledgehammer that one of the other mob members had dropped as he had run off in fright upon seeing the fate of the stone block man. He was using the long handled hammer like a cane which made Carnage immediately think that he must have twisted his ankle or knee when he had fallen to the ground following the impact with the human projectile. Their facial expressions displayed the intense fear and shock they were feeling as they looked back at the grotesque tableau behind them. Carnage slowly took a few steps towards them and the large group of spectators. In response the people all jumped or stepped back to maintain the distance between them and him.

Carnage relished the terror he saw in the people all around him and the beautiful chaos he was creating. The freedom he was feeling by acting without hesitation or feeling constrained by Neo-Queen Serenity's rules was simply exhilarating. However he knew that in probably a matter of minutes, the Sailors would be here with the sole intention of stopping his spree of murder and mayhem. He was not the least bit concerned about them but he was not stupid enough to think that they were just going to lie down and die either. He had been lucky in their first encounter because they had been still distracted by the surprise of his sudden behavioural change. Now that they had time to process that shocking development the next time they faced off, they would be coming at him with everything they had.

"Halt! Carnage! You are to stop all activities and come with us to see Neo-Queen Serenity immediately!"

Carnage' large white eyes disappeared briefly in his version of a blink since he did not have eyelids as a puzzled facial expression appeared on his virtually featureless face. One single thought quickly played through his brain and managed to cut through the insanity that was running rampant inside it. Who would be stupid enough to think that he would stop his fun by simply telling him to do so?

As he looked towards where the chorus of voices had come from a moderately sized group of armed men appeared from behind the remaining mass of rag-tag mob members. The pushed their way through the crowd and formed a tight line in front of the innocent civilians. Carnage had to smile a little bit as he admired their bravery.

'I might actually have to take a deep breath in this time!'

The new arrivals were dressed in gold plated steel armour and carried large round shields. They wore helmets that covered their heads all the way down pass their chins and were modelled after the ancient Spartan warriors of Greece. They wore steel grieves on their shins and wrists. They were each equipped with long spears and medium length swords that were mounted on the underside of their shields. Their armour much like their helmets had been based on the ancient warriors of Greece and mythological heroes such as Achilles and Hektor. Carnage instantly recognized them as being members of the royal guard which was Crystal Tokyo's only line of defence other than the Sailor Warriors.

'Oh, those kinds of people!'

Carnage let that that dissatisfied thought pass through his head as the brief amusement he had just had disappeared and was replaced with disappointment as he silently answered his earlier question. He was becoming more than a little frustrated as he was quickly becoming bored with these petty challengers. They died too quickly and the thrill he felt when slaughtered one of them was starting to fade away. These guards were no more of a threat to him then the construction workers. He wanted the Sailors to hurry up and arrive so that he could really flex his muscles. He decided to show a very rare act of mercy and give the guards a chance to retreat so he could go find someone else that was more fun to play with.

"I would turn around and run away my friends! People who think they are heroes don't last long around me."

"By order of Neo-Queen Serenity you must come with us now!"

Carnage scoffed at the man's order and sent out a barbed tendril straight at him with the intent of impaling it through his heart. The man swung the long staff of his spear at the incoming strand. His timing was perfect as it successfully batted the tendril off to the side and away from his body. Carnage felt a small pang of pain as the blunt rod of the spear made contact with his pseudopod. The tendril's momentum carried forward through the open space between the soldiers before being retracted back into the main body.

Carnage couldn't help but smile again as he watched the man and the rest of the soldiers immediately fell into a collective defensive position and readied themselves for the next attack. They were crouched down with their shields up and their spears resting on the top of them with the pointed ends facing Carnage. Sailor Venus and Mars had done well when they had trained these men. They might actually last more than fifteen seconds against him.

"That was good for a mere bag of meat! Let's see if how you handle this!"

Carnage's skin began to ripple and roll as it formed into a variety of different weapons and made him look like a one man army. He tensed his body and stood still for about ten seconds. He was letting the tension build up a bit. When he felt his anticipation reach its breaking point he sent everything that he had created at the guards and the crowd of people that were still cowering behind them with seemingly impossible speed.

The organic weapons quickly found their targets and killed many people instantly and severely wounded many others. The guards' round shield protected them from many of the incoming projectiles but not all of them. With their legs and the top of their shoulders partially exposed the darts were able to strike them which caused them to drop their shields enough to leave their necks or other vital areas open for a flying piece of symbiote from the second or third wave to deliver an instant kill. In seemingly no time at all the last of the guards fell to the cobblestone street with a piece of symbiotic material sprouting from his left eye.

"Hmmm, twelve seconds! I am a little disappointed! I guess the Sailors are the only ones that can give me a decent challenge around here."

As if the fates were watching the events that were unfolding Carnage suddenly felt a light tap on the back of his left leg. He turned around to see what exactly had struck him as his symbiote was already letting him that bit of information as his white eyes focused in on the spot. A large army-issued combat knife was embedded into the flesh of his leg just above the back of his knee. The symbiotic skin had prevented it from sinking deeper and hitting Sean's human leg underneath it but was still in deep enough that he could feel the tip of it against his hamstring muscles. Carnage snorted as the symbiote flicked the blade out and sent it to the ground with a metallic clang. He looked back up and in the direction that the knife had come from. His large eyes visibly shrunk as he saw a small group of military-clad men rushing forward.

"Oh good, Crystal Tokyo's National Guard has arrived! Just in time too as these minor leaguers are all used up now!"

Corporal Hicks and the rest of the infantry unit did not stop to engage him in any sort of verbal banter. They instead continued to move in and quickly tackle Carnage down to the ground with precision team work and skill. They immediately positioned their individual body weights firmly down on him and pinned his arms and legs to the ground. Staff Sergeant Dorrin was on top of Carnage's chest with his knees flat on the cobblestones of the street on either side of his ribcage. As the others struggled to keep Carnage's arms and legs securely under control Dorrin began to repeatedly punch Carnage's head as hard as he could. He alternated his fists back and forth and struck the sides of his head like the rapid pounding of pistons in a high-speed engine. After about a minute the physical fatigue began to set in with Dorrin. His punches became slower and had lost much of their impact force. His breathing got progressively harder and more laboured like a boxer after twelve rounds in the ring.

"Is that all you got? I thought I trained you better than that Dorrin!"

Carnage flexed the muscles in his hips and chest and brought his arms and legs in towards his body before throwing them abruptly outwards. The strength and force generated by his limbs sent the soldiers holding them flying out in all directions. The dispatching of his team mates happened so fast that Dorrin didn't have the time to process what had just occurred as he struggled to maintain his balance after the unexpected movement underneath him. As his teammates landed hard all around him Carnage turned his head to look up at the last of his attackers that was still on his chest.

An evil grin spread across his huge mouth as Dorrin used everything inside him to maintain his rigid military discipline. He raised his fist again to start another barrage of punches into Carnage's head when a hammer-like club formed in the middle of Carnage's chest. It propelled upwards and caught Dorrin square in the stomach before he could react or even see it coming up at him. The round-ended pseudopod launched him up into the air like a rocket and back against the trunk of a thick tree situated along the sidewalk nearby. He hit the tree in the centre of his back and the force of the impact immediately stunned him as he slumped to the ground.

Carnage stood back up and looked around at the men that he had once led into battle dozens of times. He laughed manically as the irony of them now trying to battle him their former commanding officer, became clear as day. He stopped his laughter and looked over at Dorrin who was still leaning up against the tree. The fluttering of his eyes told him that he was still dazed from being thrown against the tree and wouldn't be getting up anytime soon.

"It's more fun when they fight back!"

Major Winters was the first of group to recover from being thrown aside. He was sitting up on one knee as he watched Carnage survey the scene around him and laughing like a hyena at the chaos he was continuing to cause. His mind raced feverishly as he weighed their available options for taking this monster down. They had seen the mangled bodies of the three young men that had been brave enough to attempt to take down Carnage by themselves as they had approached his position. Seeing the brutal way he had dispatched them had informed the soldiers that Carnage was not pulling any punches in any of his offensive tactics.

A frontal assault would be suicide as Carnage could easily cut through them like tissue paper with any one of his many organic weapons. They couldn't risk tackling him to the ground again because he knew that Carnage had allowed them to take him down the first time. A second attempt would almost certainly result in heavy casualties as they closed in on him. The nature of his living suit allowed him to strike from any point of his body and hit multiple targets at the same time. Carnage could easily kill them all in one move if they got careless and too close to him. The only viable option he could come up with was to use the 'hit and run' strategy and hopefully either tire Carnage out or delay him long enough for the Sailors to arrive and give them the much needed extra firepower. He knew that the Sailors had to be close behind them and was more than a little surprised that they weren't here on the scene already.

Major Winters glanced around at the other members of his team and took note of each of their current positions. Dorrin was still semi-conscious from being thrown against the tree trunk and was showing no signs that he would be battle ready anytime soon. Corporeal Hicks, Captain Mac and Lieutenant Colonel Nixon were awake and alert but it was hard to see if they had any injuries or aches that they were hiding that could slow down their reaction time when the time came. Sergeant Apone was holding his side which was a possible indication that the gunshot wound he had received the day before had been either been reopened or was still tender and sensitive to touch and the resulting pain was distracting him to some extent which would impede his individual contributions to any assault they launched at Carnage.

Major Winters fought back the urge to swear as he took in the physical conditions of his comrades. Even if they all were at 100% they wouldn't last more than a couple minutes against Carnage. In their present states the best they could hope for was about forty-five seconds. The only small comfort he could see was that it would buy the remaining civilians around them the precious time they needed to get as far away from the homicidal monstrosity as possible. At least their deaths would mean that some people would be able to survive. It was an honour that every soldier wanted to have when they knew that they were going to fall in battle. The notions at having their deaths mean something to the greater good.

"Everyone! Attack Plan Crazy Horse!"

The other soldiers didn't waste any time turning towards Major Winters to acknowledge that they heard his command. They instead immediately sprang up and rushed towards Carnage. Their hands were up and ready to deliver the opening attacks of their dangerous battle strategy. Major Winters rushed forward as well determined to join his team mates and friends in their desperate struggle against their far stronger and exceptionally sinister enemy. Carnage abruptly stopped his fit of insane laughter as he noticed the soldiers advancing towards him from different directions all around him. His face switched from an expression of confusion to one of amusement again. A small grin spread across his red and black lipless mouth as a warm and cheerful thought passed through his mind.

'Hey, if they are tired of living, who am I to deny them their wish?'

Captain Mac and Lieutenant-Colonel Nixon were the first to reach Carnage as they had not suffered any serious scraps from being thrown off of him. Carnage lifted his left arm above his head and morphed his hand into a long curved hook. He swung it in a downward arch with the hope that the point of the grapnel would catch Nixon's chest and the momentum of the swing would tear and drag it across his body which would almost certainly inflict a fatal wound.

Nixon saw the transformation and instantly had an idea to counter Carnage's tactic. Nixon had been in the 'Bull Ring' several times during his military career which was the military version of a street fight where a soldier engaged in close combat with multiple opponents one after the other.

He lifted his arms and crossed them at the wrists which stopped the hook arm's downward swipe. The augmented strength of the symbiote magnified the force the swing was generating as it came down. Nixon instantly felt some of the bones in his wrists crack or even break as they stood up to the impact. He tightly gritted his teeth as the surge of pain shot through his body but he was still able to remain aware that he had been successful in stopping downward motion of the organic hook.

He quickly grabbed Carnage's left wrist and twisted it hard which caused him to lurch forward and tilt his upper body downward towards his waist. Without wasting another second Nixon drove his other elbow down across Carnage's arm at the elbow joint with all the force he could muster. The blow did its job as Carnage grunted with a visible and clear tone of pain as he felt the tendons in his arm strain from the impact of the perfectly placed elbow slam. Nixon quickly followed up by pulling Carnage up so that he was standing upright before immediately following up with a forward elbow thrust to the centre of Carnage's face. To a normal person a hit like that would have severely broken their nose and resulted in serious blood loss. However Carnage did not have a nose to aim for so all Nixon could hope to do was strike him hard enough to get through the dense material of his living costume and knock him out. Carnage's head snapped backwards from the elbow strike but it didn't render immediately him unconscious. Seeing that he was still awake Nixon immediately let go of Carnage's left arm and quickly put some distance between him and the red and black monster.

Carnage lowered his head and spat some red tinted saliva from his mouth. The red and black colours of his symbiote continued to flow, drip and swirl over his body which portrayed his feelings and emotions like the old coloured music lamps attached to stereos that were popular centuries ago. The soldiers could tell that Nixon's three part counter-attack had angered Carnage because parts of the costume began to move faster and turn blacker with increased intensity. The long tentacles of symbiotic material that sprang out and then quickly retracted back into his body did so much more quickly than normal and with noticeable more frequency.

"A nice effort my friends! However it was completely useless much like you little insects!"

Captain Mac had slowed his forward advance when he saw that Nixon was going to engage Carnage first. As Carnage was issuing his threat to them he resumed his advance with the intention of using the temporary distraction to his advantage. He decided to target Carnage's head since he was unsure whether he could continue the possible damage to his left arm from Nixon's assault with the way he was currently positioned. Mac took out his combat knife from his side holster and focused in on the spot at the back of Carnage's neck down at its base. If he could plunge his blade into that area and hit Sean's spinal cord underneath the outer layer of symbiotic skin he could end this either by killing the human half of Carnage or doing some serious physical damage to him. If it didn't immediately kill him outright it would mean that Sean would be paralyzed from either the neck or waist down but Carnage would still be rendered inert and thus their mission would be still be successful. Mac's eyes didn't blink once as he got closer and closer to his target. All he needed was just a few more seconds.

Carnage suddenly dropped down into a crouched position and began to spin around on the balls of his clawed feet. His movement was a call back to the discus throwers of the many past Olympic Games as he first went down into a low body position before springing back upwards with the kinetic energy of his legs. As he moved upwards he swung his right arm out from his body. Mac didn't see what was coming until it was too late. Carnage had morphed his arm into a razor-sharp semi-circle blade. Mac could not stop himself in time as he was too close to get out of the weapon's deadly radius. The blade made contact just above his right hip and continued upwards across his torso. It cut through his flesh like a katana slicing through a melon and literally cut him in half. As the blade exited his body at the spot between his left shoulder and neck the two pieces of his body fell apart as gravity immediately took hold of them and slid apart. They landed a couple of feet from each other with a disturbing and disgusting wet sound as Mac's face became forever frozen in an expression of wide-eyed surprise. Carnage finished his spin and came to a stop in a standing position as his arm changed back to its usual humanoid form.

The sight of the gory remains of their friend lying on the ground and the twin pools of rapidly spreading red liquid that were staining the cobblestones underneath them was enough to severely test the discipline and calm reserve of the remaining military men. They all exchanged looks with each other and charged forward as the anger and adrenaline pumped through their veins. Carnage flexed his body muscles again as he scanned the four incoming attackers. The swaying tentacles of his costume snaked out like a million strings and merged together at the base of each hand to form two huge mallets.

He aimed the blunt weapons at Major Winters and Corporal Hicks's chests and stretched his arms out like a telescope and hit them with the flat top of each mallet like a battering ram. This sent both of them hurdling backwards before bouncing off the ground as the momentum of the organic weapon passed into their bodies.

Without wasting any time the tentacles dripping off of the mallets as they continued to whizz forwards, ensnared Apone and Nixon and yanked them hard forwards to the ground before dragging them across the rough surface of the street to a spot at Carnage's feet. They both had been caught completely off-guard so they had been unable to brace their bodies for the ensuing impact of their bodies hitting the ground. They fell hard which sent a shockwave of intense pain from the tips of their chins to the bottom of their feet and stunned them for a few seconds. They could hear Winters and Hicks gasping for air behind them which told them that they were still conscious but were going to be very slow in getting back to their feet.

The symbiotic mallet strikes had forced the air from their lungs and cracked several of their ribs which had made their breathing laboured and extremely painful. Carnage began to laugh hysterically again as he reveled in the easy dismantling of their reckless offensive.

"C'mon fellas! Put a little more life into it! I am sure you can fight better than this. I need the practice as I want to be at my best for my re-match with the Sailor Soldiers! I'd really hate for them to think I've been slacking off for the past few hours! The pressure of constantly producing for one's peers is simply incredible!"

Carnage was so engrossed in his cruel mocking that he failed to notice that Dorrin had managed to get back to his feet and had successfully gotten behind him. Using both of his fists like a sledgehammer Dorrin smashed down as hard as he could on Carnage's left shoulder at the spot right at the base of his neck. A blow of that magnitude would have surely knocked a normal man out or possibly even paralyzed or killed them. The red and black monster instead went down to one knee but was already spinning his body around as Dorrin raised his arms to hit him again.

Dozens of knives spun off of Carnage like water out of a sprinkler as he turned his body. They quickly slashed Dorrin to pieces as he staggered backwards in a futile attempt to try to put some distance between him and Carnage. The razor sharp blades continued to fly until a couple of them sliced through the femoral arteries in his legs and forced him to the ground as the muscles in his legs gave out from underneath him. The final and fatal stroke was when a red organic blade nicked the side of his neck and severed his carotid artery. Instinctively Dorrin raised his hand to his neck and tried to stop the rapid blood loss as his heart continued to beat and spurt his blood out with each cardiac cycle. However, it was all for nought as the he quickly collapsed and died within seconds from exsanguination.

"Well boys, this has been very entertaining but I have some royal pains to kill!"

He morphed his arms into a Celtic double bladed axe and a curved scythe blade. He stretched and lifted his arms out to the side until his elbows and wrists were level with his shoulders. It was at that point that he began to rotate his weapons so that they were horizontal with the ground. He looked at the four remaining soldiers who were still in the various stages of recovery around him. They all were looking up at him as they had just witnessed the gruesome death of Staff Sergeant Dorrin. The look in their eyes showed that they all knew they were about to die and were determined to face it as men.

"I always wanted to try this. I saw it once in a samurai movie!"

He twisted and spun his body into a series of full rotations. As he spun his arms stretched out like a pair of whips. The instruments of death cut through the air and made a 'whooshing' sound as they travelled at high speed. Carnage lowered his body by bending his knees as he spun and moved the deadly arches from a high to low level. This prevented the soldiers from simply ducking underneath the lethal instruments. In less than five seconds it was all over. As he felt the blades pass through the final two bodies of the soldiers he morphed his hands back and came to a stop with one arm in front and one arm behind him. All around him the four soldiers' lifeless bodies slumped forwards or to the side, depending on which way the pull of gravity took them. Blood poured profusely from the various wounds that had just been inflicted.

Carnage stood up and looked around at the scene around him. He spied some frightened citizens peering out from some of the surrounding windows and doorways. Not one of them spoke a word or uttered a single sound. A few of them looked like they were trying desperately to hold back from throwing up as the level of violence they had just seen shocked their systems. They were all frozen with absolute terror and the paralyzing fear that they would be the next ones to die at the hands of this monster was clear as crystal from their body language. Carnage's body visibly relaxed as he stared at the largest group of visible on-lookers.

"Awe c'mon! I gotta score some style points for that one!"

"Wrong you unholy creature!"

Carnage spun around with a look of pleasant surprise plastered across his demonic looking face. About ten feet away from him stood a row of young women who were mostly obscured by the dimness of the long late afternoon shadows. He counted seven figures that stood before him which meant that there was one missing. Was she dead or simply just too injured to battle? He silently asked himself. He preferred the former option but if she was still alive he would remedy that when he went to the Crystal Palace to destroy the last remaining obstacles to his intoxicatingly delicious philosophy of chaos.

"Killing people for sport is barbaric and beyond comprehension and we will not stand for it any longer. In the name of the heavenly planetary bodies of the Solar System and the protectors of Crystal Tokyo, we will punish you!"

End of Chapter Seven