The Parasite

The days passed in much the same fashion as the first. During the day, Sunset would hang out at the beach, go shopping, watch TV in her hotel room, and just generally enjoy the time unwinding and not having to worry about college. She stayed away from news channels, trusting Carnage to tell her who he targeted each night. And he was happy to tell her in full detail who he killed, showing her his memories of it, so she was satisfied. What he didn't show her was who else he went after.

Carnage spent the nights piloting their body alone, traveling far and wide slaughtering whoever he found to be too weak to make good hosts for his future offspring. He killed the sick, the old, the disabled. Never too many in one location, though. And if he didn't eat the bodies, he would hide them away to prevent the deaths being tracked to him for as long as possible. They would probably be attributed to him anyway, but there wouldn't be solid proof.

He just needed to keep Sunset from finding out. He didn't want to listen to her bitching. She wouldn't understand that this would lead to that better world she wanted so badly. She didn't know the proper way to pull it off. But he did, and he was going to do what had to be done. It would be difficult without his full team, but as soon as he was able to spawn some offspring and get them into hosts, it would speed things along. And though he planned to return to Equestria to kill Venom, he wanted to try and convince the rest of the symbiotes to join his side. He refused to believe that all of them have gone soft. They just needed a strong leader to rally behind again. So far they were bending to Venom's will, but once Venom was gone, they would join a true leader.

It was the fifth night since going on vacation. Carnage had made his way to a large city he's never visited before, eager to explore some new territory. There was a prominent political figure here that was on Sunset's list, but he easily dispatched that old weakling and turned his sights to the rest of the city. He roamed the streets, looking for any sort of gang activity, since Sunset also liked seeing him take out gang members. He didn't see anything quite like that, but he did see someone being held at knife point outside a bar and just yanked the knife away, slashing the attacker's throat and watching him die while the victim screamed and ran away. Carnage tossed the knife aside and glanced up at the camera above the bar's door. Another kill that will no doubt be all over the news. People have been over-analyzing every piece of footage he appeared in. He flashed a wide grin and kept traveling.

He went through an alley and vaulted over a fence, seeing a tent set up on the other side and wanting to investigate. The rattling of the fence and the sound of his feet coming down alerted whoever was inside the tent, and a few moments later, they unzipped it and looked out. They were met with Carnage's snarling face and screamed, trying to retreat back inside.

He licked his lips and grabbed the fabric, easily ripping apart the front of the tent. There were actually two people huddled inside, both scrawny and with only a few belongings in the tent behind them. He dove in and consumed both of them, eating their heads first while sinking his claws into their torsos, enjoying the feel of blood gushing out into his hands, the flesh and tissue yielding so easily and giving him access to the organs beneath.

He played with the bodies for a bit, slicing them to pieces and helping himself to the juiciest parts, and he considered whether he wanted to eat everything or just leave the corpses here. He shoved the bodies aside for the moment, examining the stuff piled in the back of the tent. There were some clothes, a hairbrush, and two phones with their respective chargers. Along with some canned food with pop tabs on the lids. Beans, raviolis, assorted vegetables. Carnage wasn't really interested in any of it. He pulled himself back out of the tent and decided to leave the remains of the bodies. He checked his surroundings for any people or cameras, then moved along.

He spent the rest of the night in that fashion, hunting people that wouldn't be missed, mostly so he could enjoy mutilating their bodies and watching their feeble attempts to fight back. Though he almost always ate the brains before moving on, needing that nutrition.

He was about to start heading back to the hotel when he got careless. Seeing a trio of rowdy humans walking down the street, he went after them. They didn't seem to have any gang associations, they were merely being loud and taunting the occasional stranger they passed, but Carnage wanted to have some fun before finishing the night. So he attacked them right there on the sidewalk, knocking one of them to the ground. The others shouted out but didn't run, instead trying to fight. Their fists hammered against his sides and head without effect, and he lashed them out of the way with his tendrils without even looking at them, focused on the person under him. They were panicking, struggling to get away, feet kicking wildly at Carnage's chest.

“Oh you're going to have to fight harder than that,” he growled. “What's the matter, human? Is this all you've got? Haha, of course it is. Your kind are all so weak. Just a bunch of frail but tasty morsels who are lucky to have lived this long.”

“I know what you are!” the other stammered. Carnage decided to let him speak, but didn't loosen his grip. “You're that monster, you... I thought you only attacked bad guys, I'm not bad, I'm just...”

“I attack whoever I want!” Carnage interrupted. “This world will soon be mine and none of you can stop me. But you seem to be a fighter. It's humans like you who will benefit my kind one day. I'm hungry, however, so you will die.” He would need as much energy as possible before going back. Sunset woke up tired every morning as a result of him using her body's energy all night and he didn't want to hear her complain about it again. So he ripped into his victim's skull, breaking it open and eating the brain out. The body under him spasmed and then went limp.

The man's friends ran at that point. Carnage let them. He was starting to care little about his other deeds being discovered. He was untouchable. It was about time he fully revealed what his plans were for Earth. He had so much power available to him. There was really no reason to keep waiting.

It was when he straightened up and really got a look at his surroundings that he realized how careless he had gotten this time. At a bank directly across from him was a camera that would have captured the entire attack. He stared at it for a bit, deciding what he wanted to do about it, before just deciding to do nothing. Sunset hasn't been checking the news, after all. She wouldn't find out. He just had to also keep her out of that news channel on that chat app of hers. She had it muted anyway for the duration of her vacation, letting her friends know that she didn't want to think about any of that 'depressing stuff' on her trip. Which was understandable and none of them have tried to get her to look in there since.

He began running back. He was a few dozen miles away, but he would get back only a little after sunrise. He stuck to wilderness as much as he could along the way and only hid his body away under Sunset's skin once he was within walking distance of the hotel. While walking, he got a few curious looks from people he passed. It occurred to him that he hadn't changed Sunset's clothes at all before he left, so he was currently walking around in what was apparently an attractive body while wearing nothing more than a nightgown. Oh well. If anyone tried to touch him he'll break their arms.

About thirty minutes later he was safely back in the hotel, taking the card key out of the pocket on the front of the gown and letting himself into the room. As usual he could feel that Sunset was waking up, so he put the key on the dresser next to the other one and climbed into bed, transferring some of his extra energy to her so she wouldn't be exhausted.

Sunset ended up sleeping for a few extra minutes though before finally opening her eyes, yawning and gazing toward the window for a while without getting up.

Sleep well? Carnage asked her.

“Yeah, pretty well,” she said out loud. “And did you have a good night?”

He emerged from her skin so he could also talk to her out loud. “Spectacular as usual.” He filled her in on what he did while leaving out the deaths she wouldn't approve of. She nodded and didn't question him, just getting up and going over to the fridge. He heard her considering whether she wanted to go downstairs for breakfast or just eat here. She had cereal.

“We could order room service, I can tell that you don't feel like going anywhere this morning.”

“Yeah, I do kinda just want to hang out here today. But room service? I don't know, it's a little pricey...”

Carnage tossed the menu into her hands. “Treat yourself.”

She chuckled and went back to her bed, sitting and looking through the menu. Deciding on a ham, egg, and cheese sandwich and orange juice, she called down to the hotel restaurant to order it. While on the phone, she also ended up requesting hash browns as a side. And a piece of chocolate cake, for later.

She elected to have the price added on to the bill for her room rather than pay for it separately, and finished up the call, hanging up the phone.

She brought her laptop over to the bed while waiting, listening to music and checking up with her friends. They were all still enjoying themselves too, and she talked to them about what they've been up to. Twi apparently missed school already. The rest of them teased her for that.

Then a notification popped up for a private message. Sunset clicked to open it, seeing it was from Twi.

Hey, I know you didn't want to see all the news about Red, but can I talk to you about something?

Sunset grew a little nervous but answered, Sure, what is it?

I left the tracker back at the college before going on my trip, but I did tinker with it a bit before leaving. Everything is working as it should. When I activate it, it actually does point toward natural sources of the chemicals that make up Red's DNA. So, with that in mind... I really want to find out why it pointed to you that day.

Sunset chose her words very carefully as she typed, I don't know but it's gotta be a fluke. You know me. I would never do the stuff that monster does.

I don't want to believe you'd do any of that. The machine could have just been glitchy that day. But it makes me wonder. You haven't been checking the news but I've been tracking all the deaths that have been confirmed as Red's doing. They happen all over the place but I've noticed that many of them were within only a few hours of Canterlot. Then, we all go on vacation, you going to the beach in a city several hours away... now that city seems to be the epicenter of the most recent kills.

Sunset frantically went through the places Carnage has visited. They were all far away from each other, but she supposed they were all within a few hours of this city. Even with how fast Carnage could run, he could only go so far before he'd have to spend most of his nights traveling to and from the location, which left him little time to actually hunt.

It was careless. Sunset should have known Twi would pick up on that. And no doubt other people have as well. Her fingers shook a bit as she set them back on the keyboard, and she felt Carnage looming over her shoulder as he read the conversation, his form tense. She wrote, So you think it's me. Might as well get right to the point now.

I can't prove it's you. I don't want it to be you. But this is all very suspicious and I can't ignore the evidence when it's in my face. I'm not going to call the police. I'm not going to tell our friends. But I want you to be honest with me. Are you the monster?

Sunset's heart beat hard. She didn't want to reply yes. She also didn't want to lie.

“Tell her no,” Carnage said firmly. “Who cares if it's a lie. Deny everything.”

Sunset ran a hand up into her hair, tugging on it as she tried to think of what to say, but before she could come to a decision, someone knocked on her door and called, “Room service!”

She got up and took the laptop back to the desk, then went to answer the door, Carnage hiding while she did. She accepted the plates of food and the orange juice, thanking the lady who brought them and going back inside.

She sat down at the desk and set the food aside for the moment, looking back at her laptop. Twi was still waiting for an answer. As Sunset was reaching for the keyboard, Twi began typing, and she paused to see what she was going to say. After several tense seconds, the message arrived. Please talk to me. Some of the more recent deaths have been very unlike Red and extremely concerning. If it is you... I want to talk about it. Tell me. Is it you?

Extremely concerning... what? Sunset gave Carnage a confused look when he came back out from under her skin. His face was unreadable, eyes trained on the screen. Sunset asked, Which deaths?

Mostly what happened early this morning. Around 3 AM, it killed a man who had committed no crimes and was just walking down the street with some friends. The friends survived, they said the monster talked about attacking whoever it wants and the world will belong to it one day. There was a camera nearby that saw everything but there's no audio, unfortunately. Still, why would those guys lie?

Sunset took a shallow breath and stared at Carnage, demanding an answer. He huffed and said, “I got a little carried away again. But those humans were being loud and annoying, I took them for criminal types. Who cares, I only killed the one.”

“You get carried away a lot, huh?” Sunset said. “Or maybe you just like recklessly killing people. Even the ones I've told you not to.”

“Maybe I'm getting tired of only being able to kill the ones you want to. You want to make this planet better but you only want to do it your way. We're bonded, we're supposed to be partners!”

“How's it making the planet better to kill people who have done nothing wrong? Who else have you been killing without telling me?”

“It varies. All were weak and likely to die soon anyway. Don't concern yourself with it.”

“Don't concern... this is very concerning!” Sunset groaned and looked back at the screen, typing, I promise, I'm not the monster. Sorry but I gotta go. She minimized the window and continued arguing with Carnage. “That's it, no more of these nightly hunting trips unless I'm awake too and can keep an eye on you. You're out of control.”

He bared his teeth, snaking several of his tendrils out from under her skin and scraping them along her arms and neck. “And just how do you plan on stopping me?”

“You're in my body and you can't do anything without me letting you.”

“Is that what you think?” He took hold of her neurons, running a pulse of signal through her body, and her arm came up and slapped her in the face. She jerked, grabbing her arm and staring at him. “You've got it all wrong. You can't do anything without my permission. I can override all your brain's impulses. I can link myself into every single one of your nerves and take full control at will. You think you could have stopped me from using your body at any point during the night? You're wrong. I am in control.”

Sunset remembered all the times he has casually moved her body around. Using one of her hands to grab something, or turning her head to look at something he found interesting, or even making her jump back before running into someone. He never asked before doing any of it, he just did it. But there was an unspoken understanding right? She didn't mind him doing those things. Surely if she actually refused to let him have control, he wouldn't be able to move her body.

“Wrong,” he stated. “Just try and fight me. Right now, try to keep me from moving your left arm.”

She kept it firmly down at her side, glaring at him and telling herself she wasn't going to let him move it, it was her body, he couldn't-

And then her arm moved, lifting up and giving a wave, fingers wiggling. She tried to stop it and couldn't. She could feel it moving around as clearly as if she was moving it herself, but it wasn't her will in charge of it.

“See? This body is mine,” Carnage declared. “Your pathetic will is nothing compared to mine. And you know what, Sunset?” He took control of her other arm too, lifting both of them and flexing them a bit before setting them back down. Then he swung a leg out to the side and stood up, going back under Sunset's skin and spreading his tendrils right over her brain, seizing control of everything from voluntary muscles to the beating of her heart and the involuntary workings of other internal organs. He moved her mouth and chuckled in her voice, “You can stay awake and watch whatever I do from now on. It won't matter either way.”

No! she screamed in her mind, struggling against his power, but it was like she was suddenly a prisoner in her own body. She could think and feel, but none of her muscles responded to her when she tried to move. She couldn't flex a finger, she couldn't blink, she couldn't even take a breath on her own. It was all Carnage now. Okay, we can talk about this, you can hunt who you want, just let me move, please!

Too late for that, he sneered back at her. We've done things your way for far too long. My patience has run out. This world will be mine and as soon as I have my army of followers, we'll go and liberate Equestria from Venom's tyranny and conquer it as well. And Sunset?

What?

Your little friend Twilight Sparkle is too smart for her own good. Keep fighting me and I'll decide to tie up that loose end.

Sunset immediately stopped trying to wrestle control back. You leave her alone!

Then you know what to do. Be quiet. And nothing will happen to her or any of your friends.

Sunset wanted to cry and couldn't even do that much. No matter how intense the grief felt, her eyes remained dry. All she could do was let the pain wash over her. She replied, I'll be quiet.

Good choice. Oh but don't be so miserable. We're still going to make the world better. Maybe once you see its glorious future with all humans in perfect symbiosis with my kind, you'll understand.

That wasn't a future she wanted to see. She could tell the symbiosis would not be mutual. Carnage wanted to enslave the population. He saw human bodies as nothing more than hosts for his kind. He was letting her see all of his thoughts now and it horrified her. Symbiosis or death awaited everyone in the world. Those who weren't worthy of being hosts or who fought back would become meat. And he planned on doing this not just to Earth, but to Equus as well.

She wanted to plead with him not to do it, they could work together and compromise, this was a horrifying plan. But she knew he didn't see it that way. It was perfect to him. It was what he's wanted all along. New planets and healthy host bodies to feed on.

So she was silent, watching through eyes she couldn't control as he moved their body, sitting back down and helping himself to the food that had been brought up. She tried to think of some way, any way, for her to save herself. To free herself of his control and get him out of her body, but she couldn't. She wished she had told Princess Twilight about Carnage. Venom would have known the danger she was in. Maybe they could have come over and told her the truth about him. Maybe they could have removed him.

But now it was too late. She was stuck with him and would never even be able to ask for help. And with how powerful Carnage has become from their many meals, not to mention his access to her magic and that of the Elements of Harmony... no one would ever be able to stop him.

She wanted to cry more than ever. She should have never bonded with him. What has she done?