Equestria's Dark Heroes

by CMNiall

Trial by Carnage

Carnage was struck by a powerful right hook from Mathias who followed up with a thunderous head-butt that forced Carnage to one knee. He lashed out at Mathias with numerous tendrils but in response Mathias grabbed the tendrils and pulled Carnage into a bone-crushing bear hug from which few could even hope to escape. In the throne room Megumi, the princesses, and the five still conscious elements of harmony watched this unfold.
“His strength has been renewed and his efforts redoubled.” Celestia quietly said almost to herself with disbelief evident in her voice.
“This sudden change…” Twilight began “what happened? Why has he suddenly become so…different?” she asked turning to her mentor but instead Luna answered.
“Mathias sees himself as a protector of innocent lives, human or otherwise. In threatening that filly’s life the beast ‘Carnage’ has awoken a sleeping giant and brought out in him a terrible fury.” Luna stated and Twilight nodded as she slowly began to understand that the living war machine Mathias Grek did indeed have a heart. Down in the battle Mathias turned Carnage upside down and delivered a ground shattering pile driver but it seemed to have little effect on the psycho as he kicked Mathias’s head with enough force to daze him. Carnage then flipped back onto his feet and charged the Space Marine, lifting him up then tossing him through a building and letting out a flow of maniacal laughter out as he did so.
“You can’t stop me, old man.” The psychotic Carnage said before laughing once more. “No one will ruin my fun!” Mathias burst from the ruined building and tackled Carnage to the ground. He then grabbed Carnage with his left hand while delivering numerous bone-breaking punches with his right. Megumi took full advantage of this, dropping down and running over to the filly to protect her from Carnage. After the sixth punch Carnage kicked Mathias in the stomach, sending him two stories straight up. Mid-air Mathias repositioned himself to land on Carnage but the symbiotic monster was ready and caught him by the foot and swinging him in an arc that ended in a ground shaking impact. Carnage grabbed both of the Space Marine’s legs and began spinning with incredible speed, laughing manically then released him and sent Mathias hurtling into another building which, like the last, collapsed on him. But as before Mathias burst from the rubble and lunged at Carnage who side-stepped the Space Marine and punched him down into the Earth with such devastating force that, as tough as he was, even Mathias was unable to stand once more. Carnage kicked Mathias into a third building then turned towards the palace and gave a bow, laughing madly all the time. The ponies and Megumi were unsure what to do. Mathias was a greater fighter than any of them and it seemed evident that Carnage couldn’t be hurt plus Mike had run off. Speaking of which, they heard footsteps echoing from down the hallway at a pace that clearly indicated whomever was making them was running. Moments later they saw Mike turn the corner and come into view and when he saw them he began making gestures with his hands for them to clear a path.
“Outta the way!” he shouted and the group complied then gasped as they saw glob of molten metal following Mike. He leapt out the smashed window with the molten glob in tow and rolled as he landed, barely avoiding further injuring his ribs. Mike slowly stood and raised a hand, ready to toss the molten metal at Carnage but of course things are never that easy. Just before Mike could attack a tendril whipped out from Carnage’s body and struck Mike across the chest, knocking him to the ground and forcing him to lose his grip on his magnetic powers, which in turn resulted in the glowing red hot glob of death falling to the ground, turning into a glowing puddle of death. Moments later Mathias exploded from the rubble of the building Carnage had thrown him into and readied himself to engage the maniac in another bout but shortly noticed the puddle of molten metal and what he assumed to be an unconscious Mike laying prone several feet from said puddle. Mathias slowly circled Carnage looking for an opening, all the while also keeping an eye on Mike. He stole glances at his Bolter Pistol which lay near Mike and his Power Sword which had stuck itself in the wall of the Royal Palace. Mathias examined his options carefully. He could jump straight back into combat with Carnage though his attacks seemed to have no effect on the creature and doing so could very possibly level the entire city. Or he could try to grab Mike and Dante then flee to safety…no that would place more innocents in danger. His final option was to attempt to regain possession of his weapons then fight Carnage, but his foe was extremely quick, putting too much space between them would endanger everyone else. While Mathias pondered what his best move would be he noticed Mike moving slightly out of the corner of his eye. Mike raised his head just enough so he could look Mathias in the eye and winked before motioning his head in Carnage’s direction. Mathias realized Mike was telling him to fight Carnage and assumed he had a plan but Luna had had enough, before Mike could enact his plan she fired the most powerful spell she knew at Carnage and smiled slightly at the ensuing explosion of shadowy energy but as the dust cleared, much to everypony’s surprise, stood in the centre of the fairly sizeable crater Luna created was Carnage, completely unfazed.
“Weeeeeeeak.” The psychopath said with a yawn before throwing five diamond hard shards of what seemed to be himself at the princess of the moon, all of which impaled themselves several inches deep in her chest, sending her to the floor in pain and agony. Celestia immediately ordered a group of guards to take her sister to the palace’s infirmary then turned to try her hoof at blasting away the monster but when she returned her gaze to the battle Carnage’s face was mere inches from her own, smiling cruelly with an axe raised, ready to strike her down. Celestia was frozen, she couldn’t breathe, or move, or even think. Her mind was blank aside from one thought “this is how I die”. But as quickly as she saw death come for her she saw it leave as Carnage was struck by Mathias’s Power Sword, which knocked him a good twenty feet away from her. Carnage landed on his feet perfectly and watched as the sword which had cost him his kill slowly descended until it was held by Mike who had by now gotten to his feet.
“Hey, tin man. Before you go getting yourself into another brawl with Carnage you might want this.” Mike said before tossing the Power Sword to its owner. As soon as he caught it, Mathias’ Power Sword was once more emanating the blue energy all Power weapons are known for and the Space Marine charged his foe, determined to end the battle. Mathias dashed forward and brought his Power Sword down in a deadly arc, forcing Carnage to roll to his right, positioning himself between Mike and the Space Marine who currently had the entirety of his attention. Mathias locked eyes with Mike and he could see the gears turning in his injured comrade’s head, a plan quickly forming. Mike made a slight motion his left hand to signal Mathias to force Carnage closer and the Space Marine nodded slightly. Without warning he charged forwards and swung his Power Sword in a large horizontal arc which Carnage jumped back to avoid. Just as he landed Carnage was grabbed from behind by Mike who wrapped his arms around his psychotic opponent’s waist then lifted him up and arched backwards, delivered a German suplex that left Mike on his back and Carnage mere inches from the puddle of molten metal. Mike quickly followed up by rolling on to his stomach and extending a hand, reassuming his magnetic control over the glowing, liquid metal and as Carnage got up he turned to see the molten metal encompassing his body. The white-hot glowing metal engulfed the monstrous form of Carnage and he let out blood curdling shrieks of pain that would haunt anyone in their sleep. After five minutes of shrieking both the symbiot and its host finally died, leaving only a burnt corpse behind. Moments later the rubble that had entombed Dante began shifting and after several minutes the demon hunter forced his way out.
“Oh man, I missed one hell of a party.” Dante said after looking round then walked over to the remains of Carnage. Megumi joined the three men just as the five elements of harmony teleported down to them , visibly shaken by what had just transpired. Mike turned to greet them but was met by numerous gasps.
“What?” Mike questioned as he looked at each pony’s face.
“You’re bleeding...a lot.” Twilight answered somewhat shaken by the sight of Mike who began to look himself over. The front of his shirt was almost entirely covered by blood from a long gash across his chest, a wound inflicted when Carnage struck him he assumed. He also noticed his jacket was nearly shredded, cut up by shards of glass when Carnage has burst through the window. Mike removed his jacket and tore off his shirt to inspect his wounds and upon the sight of the gash Rarity fainted.
“Guess I’d better go get myself patched up.” Mike said as he turned to leave but stopped as he walked past Rainbow Dash’s unconscious body. “Maybe I should have our brazen friend here looked at too.” He said before picking up the rainbow-maned pegasus and carrying her to the infirmary, leaving the rest to watch him take his exit.
“So…what do we do now?” Dante asked as the group began looking to one another.
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Mike decided first he should find a guard, otherwise he’d be wandering around the palace for hours before finding the infirmary. Fortunately guards are always standing at the Palace’s entrance so he didn’t have to venture out of his way to find one. The two guards at the entrance stiffened upon seeing the bloodied Mike walking up to them with an unconscious pony in his arms.
“No time for jokes, just take me to the infirmary.” Mike said as he quickly closed the distance between himself and the guards but they only gave him blank stares, probably due to their unfamiliarity with battle and wounds the likes of which Mike currently bore. “NOW!” Mike shouted, forcing the guards out of their stupor.
“Yes, right away.” They replied in unison before leading Mike to his destination. Upon opening the door Mike nearly bumped in Princess Celestia who was watching over her sister as she recuperated.
“So, how’s she doing?” he asked as he slipped past the sun goddess and placed Rainbow Dash on an examination table.
“She’s stabilized.” Celestia answered quietly with tones of regret permeating her voice.
“Uh oh.” Mike responded as he took a seat on the infirmary bed nearest the examination table. “I know that voice.” He continued and got a questioning look from Celestia. “That’s the voice of someone who blames herself for what happened.”
“But it is my fault.” Celestia said as she lowered her head “I should have-“
“Done what exactly?” Mike cut her off “You’ve never seen Carnage before and couldn’t have any idea what he was capable of.”
“I should have-“ Celestia began but once again Mike cut her off.
“I’ve seen Carnage fight some of the most powerful gods in my universe, all of whom are extremely well versed in battle. Now if this world’s as peaceful as I’ve been led to believe then you have rarely fought anyone, let alone someone as strong as Carnage.” he explained though it didn’t seem to help much. The only doctor in the infirmary approached Mike to look him over but he shook his and pointed to Rainbow Dash “Check her first.” The doctor complied walking over to the unconscious pegasus and began a number of tests. Mike watched for a few moments before noticing Celestia giving him a slight smile.
“You’re more generous than you let on.” She said with a smile more wholesome than the one she initially gave the humans.
“Nah, I’m just trying to build good will is all.” Mike said, laughing slightly at his own stupid joke before the doctor approached him with a sad look in his eyes.

Author's Note:

Still having issues with my computer but working on anyways.
And slight cliffhanger because I'm cruel like that.

Comments

[FoxWithAMask]

You killed off Carnage? Writer I am disapoint.
But I'll give you another chance...

[Commissar Hardwon]

First sentence in and I was annoyed:
This sudden change…” Twilight began “what happened? Why has he suddenly become so…different?” she asked turning to her mentor but instead Luna answered.
“Mathias sees himself as a protector of innocent lives, human or otherwise. In threatening that filly’s life the beast ‘Carnage’ has awoken a sleeping giant and brought out in him a terrible fury.” Luna stated and Twilight nodded as she slowly began to understand that the living war machine Mathias Grek did indeed have a heart.

How did she know he was a living war machine? How does Luna know what he see's himself as? they only asked one question which was answered in a way that said he was a soldier and thats it.