The Parasite

Twi's stuff fell from her arms with a clatter. She was frozen in shock for a second before responding, slipping her arms slowly around Carnage and pulling him in, kissing back. Sunset was too stunned to even take advantage of the contact to transfer her thoughts to her. Her heart was racing and she felt dizzy and they were kissing.

It wasn't right, this wasn't how she imagined this going, but she could feel so much despite Carnage being the one in control and it had her feeling weak. Twi was so warm and her lips fit perfectly against hers and oh she wanted to stroke her hair so bad...

And Carnage actually did so, running his fingers back through Twi's soft hair, and the feeling was so good Sunset wanted to sob. She wanted control of her body back, wanted to touch the other herself, this was torture.

Then, abruptly, Carnage dropped his hands and took a step back. Twi stumbled back too, face bright red and glasses askew. She hastily adjusted them, taking a few attempts to speak before stammering, “I-I... I wasn't expecting that, did you... did you say you love me?”

“Yeah. I have for a long time. I wanted to finally tell you.”

Twi smiled widely, eyes brightening, and the whole world seemed to brighten right along with her. “I love you too!”

Despite everything, a bolt of pleasure and joy went through Sunset. Her crush loved her back!

Carnage knelt down to gather the stuff Twi had dropped. Then he pressed it all back into her arms. “If you'd like, we can begin investigating Red together. Us and our friends. We'll take him down and things can go back to normal.”

“Really? Yeah... yeah, okay! I'd love to have your help! I think I'm going to get back to working on my tracker again as soon as I get home!”

Carnage grew apprehensive but didn't show it, just cheerily saying, “Perfect! Now get to class before you're late!”

“Oh, uh...” Twi looked at her phone and then jumped. “Gah, I gotta go! Okay, talk to you later!”

“See you.” Carnage gave her a kiss to the cheek and then gave her a light push in the direction of the science department. She hurried away, glancing back and giggling before looking ahead again.

Sunset finally managed to think coherently. What. The HELL?! she demanded.

You love her, yes? I decided to just move the relationship along. I got her suspicion off us, she's no longer a threat, you can stop worrying about me killing her.

But you- you just kissed her! That's... I wanted to kiss her! By my choice!

That's what you're wound up about? You got to feel all of it, it was just like if you had done it yourself. Ugh, your gross primate hearts get far too overwhelmed by that silly ritual... With a thought, Carnage made their heart beat at a normal speed again. It didn't do much to relieve the swirl of emotions in Sunset's head, though.

I love Twi but I don't want you stringing her along! I know you don't care about her, you're just using her!

And what of it? You want me to behave like you normally would. So I am. Twi will be happy that you're dating her and she'll hopefully stay off our back. And I can now feed her false information about “Red” during our investigations. This is good. He privately made a note to still make sure he killed Twi first. He knew she was the most formidable of all Sunset's friends. But he would have to do it carefully. He wanted to deal with the other friends one at a time and if he was too obvious in his hunting, he risked all of them attacking at once. He was fairly confident he would be able to win a battle with them, but he wasn't 100% sure. They could defeat him. And he couldn't have that. Not when things have been going so smoothly.

There was so much Sunset wanted to say but she knew it would be useless. So she sighed and decided to say nothing to the other. She was a little relieved that Twi's suspicion seemed to have gone away, but it hurt to think about how Carnage was manipulating her. He felt nothing but contempt for Twi. He has stated his desire to kill her multiple times and even now, Sunset wasn't sure he wouldn't still do it. She wished she had thought to communicate to Twi but she had been so surprised by the kiss... but it was okay.

Carnage seemed to intend to make their relationship a romantic one. Which meant he likely would hug and kiss her again to keep up the appearance. Sunset just had to be ready for the next time they saw each other.

Carnage decided to return to Sunset's dorm to drop off her backpack, considering if he wanted to go out on another hunting spree. Sunset suggested he first do some of the homework they had received today.

None of that will matter once I rule this world, he growled.

I know. But my professors will notice if my grades start slipping and I'm sure they'll bring it up and imagine if Twi finds out, she's probably going to wonder what's going on, and you don't want her asking a bunch of questions again, do you?

Hmph. Fine. I'll complete the things that are due tomorrow. He sat on the couch and used a tendril to grab and drag the backpack over, taking out a couple textbooks.

It only took a couple hours for him to get through everything. Most of the professors weren't assigning as much work and were instead having their students prepare for their final tests. Sunset got the feeling Carnage wouldn't care to study for any of it. She wasn't sure he would even be continuing this act by then. She could feel his impatience, his longing to just completely abandon the college and spend every waking moment living up to his name. She wasn't privy to the specifics of his plan beyond conquering the planet and infesting everyone he left alive with Klyntar, but she knew it would be horrendous. She needed to inform Princess Twilight and have her come and stop Carnage as soon as possible. She and Venom were probably the only ones who could.

“There,” Carnage said out loud, getting up. “That was irritating.” He checked the time. It was still fairly light outside and he preferred using the cover of darkness, so he spent the next few hours entertaining himself on Sunset's laptop until nightfall. He was up the moment it was dark enough for his liking. “Finally. Time to have some fun.” Taking only the keys to the dorm, he headed outside. He walked for a bit, going out toward a nearby neighborhood and finding a place to hide before suiting up, wrapping his superior form around his host's pathetic one and straightening up. He wasn't going to be out long, he just wanted to pick off one or two people before getting some rest for the night.

It was an easy affair. He trotted the streets without care for who saw, relishing the fearful screams of the residents, before honing in on an elderly couple who were out in their yard and charging for them.

Though she knew it was hopeless, Sunset still pleaded for him to leave them alone. They didn't deserve it. He commented that they would be dying soon anyway. She did her best to close herself off from Carnage's senses as he dove toward his victims, but she couldn't block out the screams. It was over with a few chomps of Carnage's maw and Sunset wanted to retch at the feel of the flesh and bones going down their throat. The feeling she enjoyed so much when they killed those she saw as unworthy of life was now disgusting to her. She never should have let herself start enjoying the kill, should never have let Carnage gain her trust...

Carnage gave a few last gulps and then fled as a nearby homeowner fired a gun at him. The bullets missed and he was gone before the homeowner could even reload. Not that it would have mattered. His hide was far too durable for a gun of that caliber to bother him.

His appetite satisfied, and his host suitably upset, he made his way back toward the college once more. Nothing like some fast food after a long day. He had crossed back onto college property before he realized he needed to find somewhere to hide himself back under Sunset's skin. He examined the area before deciding it was deserted enough, instead just slipping into the shadow of a building and crouching down as he got ready to change.

Then he registered movement somewhere behind him and whipped around, razor-sharp tendrils defensively rising from his back. There, several yards away but within easy striking distance, was the purple-hued human female that his host was enamored with. In her hands she held that blasted tracker and her eyes were wide and horrified.

For a tense moment, they stared at each other. Carnage heard only silence from Sunset, but took pleasure in the fear that consumed her. Then, once he had his fill, he lunged for Twi. Might as well tie up that loose end now, then he wouldn't need to bother with the romantic shit at all and he'll have a huge threat neatly out of his way-

Twi suddenly jumped up and backward, going far higher than Carnage expected, dropping her tracking device as she flung her hands out. He made sure he crushed the tracker beneath a foot. Then he looked up, expecting her to land, but she instead hovered there in the air above him, magenta energy glowing around her palms, and he realized she was using her telekinesis to levitate. “Why?” she whispered, eyes pained and tears streaking her cheeks. “Why did you kill those defenseless people? Why are you doing all this?”

Carnage gave her a wicked grin. “They were weak and did not belong in the world I will soon build. They deserved their fate. Just as much as you deserve yours.” With a roar, he leaped for her.

She managed to dodge his hands but was struck across the side by one of his tendrils. She grunted and lost control of her magic, hitting the ground. She struggled to her feet and then took off running, accessing the magic of her geode to pony up and begin flying, staying low to the ground but still moving fast.

No! Sunset screamed when Carnage moved to follow, fighting back against his will. He was surprised by the ferocity with which her mind attacked his, like a wave crashing against him and making him step backward, giving Twi time to make it nearly halfway across the campus toward the dorms. Then he fought back, crushing Sunset's will back under his and making her cry out in agony as punishment for distracting him like that. While she tried to recover from the painful mental blow that had felt like railroad spikes piercing her skull, Carnage charged after Twi. He caught up with her quickly and got between her and the dorm building, leaping and slamming into her with a shoulder. She was knocked from the air and hit a sidewalk, gasping in pain, her arms and face getting scraped as she rolled across it and came to a stop in the grass, wheezing for breath.

Please, please, run! Sunset begged, again trying to keep Carnage from attacking. She didn't care how much he would hurt her for it, as long as she could keep Twi alive, she had to fight.

He again subdued her will, though she could feel his fury at having to fight with her. He again inflicted searing pain upon her mind, an anguish so awful she could swear her body was being torn up with red hot blades, yet it was all just in her head. She was even more scared of him now, his cruelty truly knew no bounds.

You've only begun to see what I'm capable of, he snarled at her.

Twi winced and flapped her wings only to realize one was broken and she couldn't fly with it. She started running again, this time toward the science department. Carnage hissed and bounded after her. Used to Sunset's attempts to fight back, he was able to keep her will at bay now even as he focused on the chase. Twi occasionally used her magic to propel herself forward, keeping just out of reach of Carnage's tendrils, before reaching the doors to the department and flinging them open, rushing inside. Then there was the sound of several objects slamming against the doors.

Carnage reached them and saw that Twi had yanked desks from classrooms inside to barricade the doors with. He rolled his shoulders and lowered his head, putting on speed and busting right through the doors with little effort. The desks were hurled aside and he grinned as he saw his prey yelp and run up a flight of stairs at the opposite end of the hall. He liked a good challenge. He followed her.

There were no classes in here at this hour so there were no students around. No one to get in the way. He located Twi on the second floor, seeing her go through a nearby door. The signs in the area informed him that this was where many labs were at, and once he ripped down the door she had gone through, he found that this was a storage area with many boxes of supplies and bottles of chemicals on the shelves.

Twi had crossed to another door that led to a lab and was pulling on the handle, but it was locked. She held her hand in front of it and her magic glowed around both her fingers and the key hole, and as her fingers twitched, Carnage's acute hearing picked up the clicking of the pin mechanism. He had an idea who might have gotten into Sunset's dorm over the break. She had searched it for evidence, no doubt.

He lashed a tendril across her wrist from a distance and it snapped easily. She cried out and shrank away from him, trying to flee but she was backed into a corner of the room and had nowhere to go.

Carnage enjoyed the terror on her face, the way she began shaking as she realized how badly she messed up coming in here. It was a good chase, he had to admit, but now it was over. He tuned out the pleading and shouting of his host, continuing to shrug off her attempts to stop him.

After a quick glance at the surrounding supplies, Carnage gathered two large bottles off the shelves.

“Oh, what deadly things your science department has just laying around in here,” he said as he lifted the two bottles high.

Even in her panic, Sunset could read the labels on the jugs he had chosen. One was ammonia. The other was bleach. Her panic doubled and she tried to scream a warning, but judging from the way Twi's eyes widened, she saw what it was too.

And then Carnage slammed the bottles so hard into the floor between them that the bottles burst open, the chemicals spilling out and mixing into a huge puddle. A pungent odor filled the room as the chemicals reacted, billowing out harsh chloramine gas.

Twi immediately gagged and began choking on the toxic vapor, her eyes watering. She scrambled backward out of instinct, and upon hitting the wall, dove to the side and tried to run past Carnage, desperate to escape the gas. She finally managed to get the door to the lab unlocked with her magic and dive through, but he was quick to grab her, lifting her and hurling her through the room.

She was in too much pain to use her magic to slow or stop herself, instead hitting a table covered in vials and beakers, breaking most of them. Several shards of glass stuck in her skin. Blood dripped from her and she coughed uncontrollably, struggling to push herself up.

Carnage muttered to Sunset, This is for resisting me. Thanks to you, her death will not be quick. He crossed the room and seized Twi by the throat, lifting her. Sunset begged him to spare her. She would never fight back again, she'll be quiet, just let Twi go!

But he didn't listen, holding Twi in place while using a tendril to swipe a Bunsen burner from another table and bring it over, plugging it in and watching a blue flame burst up from the tip. Twi gasped and squirmed to free herself as Carnage shoved her down toward the burner, managing to plant her hands on the table and keep her face mere inches from the dangerous flame, though her long hair ended up falling forward into it, catching fire. The smoke worsened her cough and she clawed at the table, stomping her feet and flapping her wings as she tried to back away, but Carnage's grip was unrelenting.

“Honestly, don't you know lab safety?” Carnage chuckled darkly. “Long hair should be tied back!” Saying this, he switched his grip to seize a fistful of her hair, yanking her away from the fire only to swing her around and plant her face into a cabinet. There was a sick crack as her nose broke on impact and she wheezed as blood went down her throat. He threw her to the floor, expecting her to crumple, but instead she pushed herself up and met his eyes, breathing shallowly, glaring at him through shattered glasses. The fire in her hair had luckily gone out but there were still singe marks along her face from how close it had gotten.

Get up, please, get up and run, Sunset willed her. You can't win this.

Twi spit blood out of her mouth and took her glasses off, tossing them out of the way. One of the lenses had broken and embedded in her brow, but she plucked it out and dropped it too before standing. Carnage had to admit, he was impressed.

“You aren't as pathetic as you look,” he said. “I can't wait to take your power for myself.”

Twi spread her arms. “Just you try.” Magic glowed down the entire lengths of her arms and there was rumbling from behind Carnage. He sensed the movement of several inanimate objects and turned around in time to get nearly a dozen chairs hurled into him leg first, moving so fast the metal pierced his skin and made him shout in pain. He hadn't expected that to hurt. Her grasp on her magic was incredible.

Twi is amazing, you should know that from my memories, Sunset said, unable to help being proud of the other.

As amazing as she may be by human standards, she's nothing compared to me. Several whips of his tendrils and claws and the chairs fell away, clattering to the floor. He ripped a desk from the floor and threw it in retaliation. Twi's eyes widened and she hastily flung up her hands, but without her glasses, she misjudged how far the table was and was struck by it.

It crashed against the wall with her behind it, the dull thud accompanied by a few cracking sounds. Sunset could only watch through Carnage's eyes as he approached the desk, fearing the worst. What had broken? Twi's ribs? Her arms? Her skull or spine?

To her relief, when Carnage tossed the table aside Sunset was able to see a thin magical aura around Twi. She had shielded herself from the brunt of the impact but was clearly dazed. The cracking had seemed to just be the wall behind her. Her aura fizzled out after a few seconds and Twi slumped, groaning, her eyes fluttering shut. Her wings and pony ears vanished.

“Running out of energy already, I see,” Carnage said, chuckling. “It was quite a fight, but it's over.” He picked her up by the neck and dragged her through the room. She was still conscious but could barely move, weakly hitting his arm.

“Let go of me, monster!” she shouted. “You'll regret this, I mean it, put me down!”

Sunset might not get another chance. If she could telepathically talk to Twi and then distract Carnage one more time, maybe Twi would be able to get away and get help. She focused, drawing on her magic as she thought about everything that has happened to her leading up to this moment, willing those memories to go to Twi, needing her to see it all...

She felt the magic begin to spark and grew hopeful, it was going to work, Twi's eyes were starting to get that glazed look that Sunset herself had whenever she saw someone else's memories- but then Carnage felt the flow of magic through their body and suddenly threw Twi forward, breaking the contact.

Even now you continue to defy me, Carnage hissed in Sunset's mind. With a small effort, he tore through her mental barriers to see what her intentions were. It made his anger grow. So that's what you've been planning. Have you not learned? You're beyond help now. Your friends cannot save you. And for your defiance, I will make sure your closest friend suffers even more. You will learn your place.

He kicked Twi along, throwing her back into the supply room and stalking in there after her. He could hear her coughing and groaning on the floor, trying to stand but simply not having the strength anymore. But he still wanted to move fast before she recovered. He considered his options as he looked at the various chemicals, and his grin widened as he landed on one in particular.

“Oh, yes,” he purred with delight. “That will do nicely.”

He pulled over an empty plastic tub and tossed the lid off. It was a little small but a human would still fit inside with some minor folding. Then he retrieved his chemical of choice. Several large bottles of hydrochloric acid, which he uncapped and began pouring into the tub.

Sunset quickly started pleading with him again. Deep down she knew it was hopeless but she couldn't just watch this silently. Oh no, no no Carnage please don't do this to her, I'm sorry, I'll never fight you again, you can do whatever you want, let her go and you'll never hear a word from me again, please-

Shut up! You had your chance to submit to me and you refused! You don't care what happens to you but you do care about your friends, and it will be your undoing. If killing them keeps you in line then so be it. And Sunset... Carnage finished pouring all the bottles out and picked Twi up once more, gazing into her eyes. Relishing the fear within them. I don't believe in warning shots.

That said, he plunged Twi into the tub.