Fluttershy fled from the monstrous pegasus with speed she could only muster in times of crisis. Her wings flapped only slightly slower than the beat of her heart, the sound of Carnage's sadistic laughter only motivating her to fly faster.
"It's always fun when they fight..." Carnage's hoof became an axe once again. "...because I get to FIGHT BACK!" Carnage swung his hoof, and the axe flew off, spinning towards Fluttershy at incredible speeds.
Fluttershy yelped in pain as the axe nicked her wing, causing blood to spill out of the fracture it made. Carnage cackle as the yellow pegasus tumbled to the ground, landing in a tree before finding solid ground.
Fluttershy groaned in pain. Her wing's injury wasn't major, but it was enough to ground her. As she was about to get up and go for help, her pursuer landed on top of her, snarling like a beast.
"Well, this just got a lot easier!" The demonic pegasus cackled.
"HELP! HEL-ACK!" Fluttershy tried to call for help, but Carnage slammed a hoof down onto her throat.
"Save your voice." Carnage said. "You'll need it for when I'm 'working.'" Tentacle-like appendages emerged from his back, snaking their way down to his captive's body, several of them making long, thin gashes in the canary-coloured pegasus' torso.
Tears streamed down Fluttershy's face as she began to whimper in pain and fear. Suddenly, another tentacle wrapped around her head and formed a makeshift gag in her mouth.
"Ah-Ah-Ah!" Carnage said. "Can't have you attracting attention before the fun begins!" A beastly roar interrupted Carnage's "fun" as a huge grizzly bear emerged from the nearby woods. The creature used its front paw to knock the symbiotic supervillain away.
The bear then turned to Fluttershy, leaning down and nuzzling her. Fluttershy smiled weakly at the bear. "T-thank you, Harry."
Harry smiled before a jagged set of black teeth nestled themselves in his shoulder, causing him to rear back in pain, roaring. Carnage grinned as his tentacles extended from his back, stabbing into the bear's flesh and causing great spurts of blood to gush out. Fluttershy's eyes widened and suddenly, all her pain was nonexistent as she attacked the villainous creature, charging and knocking it off Harry with surprising strength.
"HARRY! Dear Celestia, are you ok?" Fluttershy attempted to tend to her huge friend. Harry smiled weakly before he began to black out, going weak from blood loss.
"Oh, the bear's dying? Boo-freaking-hoo." Carnage said, shaking out his wings.
Fluttershy's face contorted into one of pure anger. "How DARE YOU!?" She turned her infamous Stare on Carnage. "Hurting poor, innocent Harry and causing him to faint from blood loss! I might not be able to heal him in time! What would your mother say!?"
Carnage seemed unfazed. "My mom left me at a goddamn orphanage. Why should I care what the bitch has to say?" He replied.
Fluttershy visibly deflated. Playing the "mother" card usually worked, and even her Stare, which could stun even the strongest of wills, had zero effect on this sadistic menace.
Carnage smiled, exposing his disturbing maw. "What's the matter? Your silly stare not working? Well that's too bad, cause I'm about to cut you up SO BAD that you'll be staring at the inside of a soup can from then on!" Carnage's hoof became a double-edged battleaxe blade and his tentacles thrashed about menacingly as he stalked towards his prey, who was backing up like a cornered rat.
Carnage giggled in an almost childlike manner as he prepared to have his fun when a squeaking sound behind him became rather distracting. He snarled and turned around to see Vinyl Scratch and Octavia, the former pushing a giant amp.
"Hiya." Vinyl said.
"Hi." Carnage replied.
An awkward silence followed. No one moved or said anything. Octavia looked slightly disturbed at Carnage's appearance, but said nothing.
"So...whatcha got there?" Carnage asked.
"Oh, nothing much just my BASS CANNON!" Vinyl flicked a switch on her amp and the device transformed into a huge blaster.
"What kind of-" Carnage was interrupted by a powerful blast of pure sound sending him flying into a boulder.
Carnage screeched as his suit began to pulsate and squirm at the sound. The symbiotic creature seemed to make its way off the beast, revealing a blood-red coat with a black mane and a Cutie Mark of a carving knife.
"Ha ha! Nothing can resist the power of the Bass Cannon!" Vinyl laughed.
"Looks like that...creature has the same weakness as Venom." Octavia observed.
"I guessed from the resemblance." Vinyl explained.
The duo walked up to Fluttershy. "Are you ok?" Octavia asked.
"I-I think so." Fluttershy said. "But enough about me, help me get Harry inside! He needs-" Fluttershy was cut off as Carnage, still suitless, tackled her to the ground.
Vinyl's horn flared. "Get off her!" She shouted.
"Or what?" Carnage stood up, his forehoof on Fluttershy's throat. "Are you gonna kill me? You don't have the guts."
Vinyl's giant shades hid her look of doubt. She wanted to save Fluttershy, but she also didn't want to kill anyone. After a moment of hesitation, her horn's light died.
Carnage grinned. "That's what I thought." He said. "Now I'm gonna kill her, slowly and painfully. If you're a good little pony who knows, I might kill you quick!" The sadist cackled before using his teeth to cut himself on his forearm.
"What's wrong with you?!" Vinyl demanded, disturbed.
Carnage just grinned in response. Before the ponies' eyes, Carnage's suit began to regenerate through his wound. Carnage began laughing as the red goo enveloped his body once again. Things seemed to be in his favour until a heavy object split itself over his head. Carnage paused for a second before falling over onto his side, unconscious.
Behind him stood Octavia, standing over the remains of the cello she bashed Carnage over the head with, panting.
Fluttershy got up coughing, trying to soothe her wrecked trachea. "Thank you, Octavia." She said, embracing her saviour.
"You're welcome, Fluttershy." Octavia replied, wrapping a hoof around the pegasus' head.
"You alright, Tavi?" Vinyl asked, coming to check on her marefriend.
"Yes, I'm fine." Octavia replied, looking over to the comatose creature beside her, who was now completely enveloped in his symbiote. "We should find something to do with...this, though."
Suddenly, a giant thud was heard from the edge of the Everfree forest, soon followed by a bright flash of blue and purple.
"You think we should check that out?" Vinyl asked.
"Yep." Octavia replied.
Elsewhere... Applejack managed to hide from Electro in the barn. The brainwashed pegasus continued making lightning dance all over Sweet Apple Acres.
"A-a-a-a-pplejack! Come out to pla-a-a-ay!" The shocking pony taunted while sparks flew.
How are you supposed to fight a pony that shoots lightning from his hooves? Applejack thought.
The sound of electricity crackled as the pegasus continued his search. "C'mon out! Just come quietly and I promise you'll DIE fast!" He yelled.
Just then, a bolt struck the barn roof, igniting the dry wood. Applejack's eyes widened and she dashed out the door. "Nononono!"
"AHA! GOTCHA!" Electro spotted Applejack and prepared to shock her, but a black blur tackled him to the ground. Upon landing, said blur revealed itself to be Venom, who began punching Electro's face with his hoof before the electric villain blasted him off.
Above, a certain wall-eyed pegasus observed smoke rising up from Sweet Apple Acres. Derpy's eyes widened and she rushed over to observe, finding a panicked Applejack trying to throw a bucket of water onto a burning barn. Derpy flew off and came back with a cloud, placing it over the fire, and began jumping on it.
Rain poured from the cloud, extinguishing the fire and turning it to nothing but smoke. Upon seeing this, Applejack visibly calmed down. "Thanks, partner!" She shouted.
"No problem!" Derpy called back, fluttering down. "What caused the fire?"
"Some brainwashed pony, goes by 'Electro'" Applejack explained. "He can shoot lighnin' from his hooves!"
"How does that work?" Derpy asked.
"With all that's been goin' on, THAT'S what you're askin'?" Applejack said.
Derpy shrugged before a smoking Venom flew past them and slammed into the barn door. The symbiotic pegasus shook his head and got up, snarling. "Get behind me!" He instructed.
Applejack and Derpy complied as Electro walked out of the orchard.
"Y'know Venom, if you just come with me, the King would welcome you back with open arms...or forelegs, depending on where he is." Electro said.
Venom hissed in response. "No deal. I like being in control, thank you!"
Electro smirked. "Says the guy wearing a sentient suit that whispers to him all day." He said.
Venom just growled. "Yeah, but we have common goals." He replied.
"Same difference." Electro said. "But if the offer's been declined, I have other ways of bringing you back." Electro started toward the ponies, his body crackling with energy, when he stepped in a puddle caused by Derpy's raincloud. Electro flinched as if stricken as a small lightning bolt erupted from his hoof and sunk into the puddle.
Applejack quirked an eyebrow. "Don't like the water, huh?" She asked.
Electro scoffed. "It's harmless." He said. "...like you." Electro raised his wings before pointing them at his opponents, sending a bolt of lightning at his offenders. All 3 ponies dodged and Venom tackled Electro to the ground once again.
"Derpy!" Applejack called. "I need you t'make it rain!"
Derpy just blinked.
"On Electro!" Applejack said.
Derpy's eyes widened for a second before smiling and blushing, the implications sinking in. The mailmare rushed to get her stormcloud, positioning it over Electro before jumping up and down on it like mad. Venom looked up and smiled, moving aside and holding Electro down with a hoof.
"NONONONONONO!" Electro blasted Venom away, but that just served to get him out of the crossfire.
"AAAAAAAHHH!" Lightning flew everywhere as the rain drained Electro of his power. After about 10 seconds, the electric villain passed out. The other ponies gathered around the unconscious lightning bug, Applejack receiving a slight jolt by stepping in the surrounding water.
"Whew. Good job, everypony!" Applejack said. Venom and Derpy nodded. "We should probably get Twilight to take care of this here 'problem.'"
Elsewhere... "Well, uh, we can see this situation is between you and Rarity so we're just gonna-" Applebloom started, attempting to walk away with her fellow Cutie Mark Crusaders when a sword implanted itself in the ground right in front of her.
"No witnesses." Taskmaster said.
Rarity gasped. "You don't mean.." She began.
"No choice." Taskmaster replied. "Just business."
"But that..that's HORRIBLE!" Rarity almost shrieked.
"Maybe." The masked assassin said. "But I'll make it as quick as possible."
"What, and you think that helps your case?" Rarity asked. She was legitimately angry about this, but she was also stalling in order to find some gems to use as weapons in the surrounding ground.
"Would you rather I drag it out as long as possible?" Taskmaster asked, stalking towards Rarity as he brandished his blade.
Rarity backed up quickly, beginning to unearth the jewels she sensed. "Well, no, I'd rather you not do it at all."
Taskmaster smirked. "Too bad." He said before thrusting his sword forward.
Rarity quickly raised her gems up, grabbing the sword before it could hit. The jewels snapped the blade in half.
Taskmaster quirked an eyebrow, looking at his destroyed weapon. "Well played." He complimented. "But I've got more than that."
The assassin pulled out a bow and arrow and began shooting. Rarity ducked and ran for cover, using her gems to block as many arrows as she could. Finding salvation behind a tree, the Element of Generosity stopped to take a breather, heaving as the rain of arrows took a brief pause.
"Ok, let's recap." Rarity said to herself. "You're hiding like a foal from a masked assassin from another dimension who's armed to the teeth and wants nothing more than to kill you. All you have for weapons are gems and a high-pitched voice, and on top of that, he's also planning on killing the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Hahaha! Oh, I'm dead!"
"Maybe you'd be less dead if you didn't talk to yourself so much." Rarity froze and looked up. Taskmaster was casually leaning in a tree branch.
Rarity shot away from the tree so fast she may as well have teleported. "Hmph." Taskmaster said.
How in Equestria do I use these gemstones as a weapon!? Rarity thought to herself...she racked her brains until an idea popped into her head.
"Playtime's over." Taskmaster said, readying and arrow.
"I agree wholeheartedly." Rarity crafted the gems into the shape of the barrel of a gun and lowered them onto her horn. It took a second for Taskmaster to register what was going on, but by the time he did it was too late. A beam of white-hot energy burst from Rarity's horn, gathering energy from the jewel barrel and blasting Taskmaster across the field. The assassin slammed against a tree, a huge scorch mark on his chest, and fell unconscious.
Rarity stood dazed for a second, the powerful burst of magic stunning her. She quickly came to her senses, dropped the jewels and galloped to inspect Taskmaster.
"I-is he gone?" A shaky voice asked. Rarity stopped and looked at a nearby rock.
She sighed in relief. "It's ok, darlings. He won't be hurting you any time soon." She said.
The Cutie Mark Crusaders poked their heads out from under the rock, looking around nervously. Rarity smiled and proceeded to Taskmaster's unconscious form.
Elsewhere... Deadpool teleported around the town, heading towards the commotion. It didn't take long before the Merc found the giant armoured pony attacking Spider-Colt and Pinkie Pie.
'The Crimson Dynamo is here?' One of Deadpool's boxes asked.
"Looks like it." Deadpool replied.
"Hey, little help here!" Spider-Colt called, trying to immobilize the Dynamo with little success.
"Oh yeah!" Deadpool teleported above the Dynamo and slashed the back of his armour with his katanas.
The armoured stallion reared around and blasted Deadpool with a replusor, sending the ninja flying. Crimson Dynamo turned his attention back to Pinkie Pie, a rocket launcher emerging from his shoulder.
"H-hey! C'mon, we can work this out!" Pinkie pleaded. "J-just put away the weapons and I could throw you a welcome party! How does that sound?"
The Dynamo showed no change. "No." He said, a thick Russian accent on his voice. Pinkie covered her eyes as she prepared for the inevitable, when she was lifted into the air just as the missile hit the wall where she previously stood. The force of the blast sent both her and her rescuer flying. After landing, she looked to see Spider-Colt brushing himself off.
"Seems I have a knack for saving your life." The arachnid said. Pinkie giggled.
"What the bloody hell is going on!?" Pinkie and Spider-Colt turned to see Doctor Whooves staring incredulously.
"Giant stallion in a high-tech suit of armour trying to kill us. Y'know, nothing special." Spider-Colt said.
The aforementioned stallion was currently occupied with Deadpool's assault, giving the Doctor a good look at him. "How did HE get here?"
"No clue." Spider-Colt answered. "We'll figure it out after he's out cold." Spider-Colt them swung back to his foe.
Deadpool peppered the Crimson Dynamo with bullets while teleporting rapidly to avoid the barrage of projectiles fired by his adversary.
'Kick him in the balls!' Deadpool's obtuse text box suggested.
'I believe his testicles are protected.' The smart box acknowledged.
"That's pretty much the only reason I haven't used that strategy yet!" Deadpool said, still struggling to penetrate Dynamo's armour.
"Stay out of this, mercenary." The crimson villain said. "You are a non-factor in this."
"A non-factor?" Deadpool asked before gasping. "I am offended! Let me show you how offended I am!" He then unhooked 2 grenades from his belt and flung them at his enemy.
The grenades exploded in Crimson Dynamo's face, causing him to stagger back. "You won't be able to stop me alone." He said.
"He won't have to!" Suddenly, a blindfold of webbing covered Dynamo's visor, blinding him. The villain struggled to remove the sticky substance with his hooves while Deadpool sprayed bullets and Spider-Colt used his webs to sling random objects at his foe.
Pinkie decided to join the fray with her Party Cannon, blasting confetti and streamers at incredible velocities that mummified the Dynamo.
"Grrraaah!" The armoured pony's rocket boots sprang to life, lifting him up into the air and making the party supplies scatter everywhere. The Dynamo ripped the Web off his visor with a hoof before slamming back onto the ground, causing everything around him to shake.
"I'm finished with you." The missile launcher re-emerged from Dynamo's shoulder and took aim at his 3 enemies. However, an odd buzzing was heard, and Dynamo's missile launcher seemed to malfunction and pointed downwards.
"What!?" Dynamo tried to get his weapon to work, providing am opening for Pinkie, Spidey, and Deadpool to escape.
"Hey! Get back-" The armoured cretin was interrupted as he was thrown aside by something massive slamming into him. The Dynamo crashed into a nearby house and fell unconscious.
Juggernaut laughed. "That felt GOOD!" He bellowed.
Spider-Colt stared at him incredulously. "HOW are you HERE!?" He asked.
"No idea." Juggernaut answered.
Twilight Sparkle galloped up to Crimson Dynamo and looked him over. "Who is this?" She asked.
"Crimson Dynamo." Spider-Colt answered. "He tried to kill Pinkie and I. Oh, by the way WHAT THE HELL IS JUGGERNAUT DOING HERE?!"
"Thanks for the welcome." Juggernaut muttered under his breath.
Twilight touched her horn to Dynamo's head, and purged him of his corruption.
Dynamo awoke with a start. "Wha? What's going on?" He looked down at his hooves. "Der'mo."
"Do you remember what happened?" Twilight asked.
"Da." Dynamo replied, rubbing his head. "I feel like I just got hit by a freight train."
"Twilight!" The aforememtioned unicorn spun around to see Spike running up to her. "Are you ok?"
Twilight smiled. "Don't worry, I'm fine." she said.
Spike sighed. "Good." He then piped back up. "Also, Rarity came to see you. Apparently, she was also attacked."
Twilight gasped. "Oh my gosh, is she ok?" she asked.
Spike nodded. "She's alright, just a little jittery from what I can tell." he explained.
Rarity observed the aftermath of the battle with an unconcious Taskmaster, woozy Magneto, and unusually calm Sweetie Belle in tow. "For some reason I have a feeling something went down here." she said.
"Me too." Captain America arrived pushing Green Goblin strapped to a cot.
"Who's that?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"I'm your worst nightmare, kid!" Green Goblin said.
"Quiet." Cap ordered.
"What in the hay happened?" Applejack looked around the town, observing the destruction.
"It looks like someone else tried to destroy the town." Venom acknowledged, carrying Electro with symbiote tendrils.
A bloodcurdling scream rang through the town. Everyone turned their heads to see Fluttershy running at full speed from Carnage.
"Christ, not him again." Venom muttered, dropping Electro and tackling Carnage.
Carnage hissed. "You stay out of this!" The psychopath wrapped Venom in his tendrils and slammed him to the ground. "Now, where was I?" Carnage looked up and found himself in a dark cave. "What?"
He couldn't hear anything but water droplets falling from stalactites on the ceiling. "Where am I?" He said.
"Cool trick." Hawkeye said.
"What do you think Trixie is named for?" The showmare replied, her horn glowing. Carnage looked around frantically, trying to decipher what happened. Twilight Sparkle's horn began glowing as she began to cure Carnage.
"Uh, pro tip." Spider-Colt said. "Just because he's been purged of magical corruption, that doesn't mean he won't eviscerate everyone."
"I guess he'll be less likely to filet us all if he's in control." Twilight guessed as she did her work." The familiar glow enveloped Carnage as the mind control faded.
"What? Who? When? Where? How?" Carnage sputtered as he processed what was going on while Trixie dropped the illusion.
"Proceed with caution." Venom advised.
"Great, as if we didn't have enough problems." Captain America said.
Twilight turned, noticing the Captain for the first time. "Who is that?" She asked.
"Green Goblin. He attacked Rainbow Dash." Cap replied.
"Really? I was attacked by this..fiend who calls himself the Taskmaster." Rarity said.
"Some feller by the name of Electro came after me." Applejack added.
Twilight looked over the defeated villains with shock and confusion. "We need to call the Avengers back here." she stated.