Chapter 74

"I'm okay!" Luz shouted through the searing pain. "Everything... Everything hurts, but I'm okay!"

Clutching at her bleeding chest wound, she tried to focus on the strongest healing spells she knew, and with a blow... Well, things didn't hurt anywhere near as much but afterward she was thinking straight again and realized she just made it harder to get the bullet out. Well, at least she wasn't bleeding any more.

People were trying to evacuate and Amity had grabbed Luz's arm in a death grip as soon as Luz stopped clutching her chest but then suddenly there was a blood-curdling scream from just outside the park this whole thing was set up in... And it was getting louder.

The scream cut off a moment later when a body hit the ground in the middle of the pavilion with a sickening crunch. The body, which now very clearly had a broken neck, was that of a man dressed head to toe in a black body suit and cowl, with metal boots and gauntlets.

"...Oh that's not good," Luz said.

'Who is that?" Amity asked, panicked.

"That would be Bullseye," Dazzler answered. "The world's greatest assassin, who kills for fun. He mostly uses things like darts and throwing knives but..." Dazzler looked over to Luz. "If he was the shooter then whoever wanted you shot wanted you to live through it. There's no way you'd still be standing otherwise."

"I mean I'm pretty tough," Luz replied weakly.

"Who says he was after Luz?" Amity asked, clearly getting more scared by the second. "Can't he just be some random crazy?"

"...Wait if he was the shooter, then um... Who killed the shooter?" Luz asked. She blamed the pain for that question not occurring to her earlier.

This question was answered a moment later when an unnaturally lean and tall figure fell from the sky and landed crouched just above the corpse. A red figure, skeletal, with glowing orange eyes and a matching light from within his fanged jaws. He looked different from the image Luz had seen, that had formed her mental image of the figure but he was still immediately recognizable, and boy, Grom had not done him justice.

The evacuation efforts sped up suddenly as more people screamed and Luz's ESP was almost overwhelmed by the sudden explosion of fear.

"I had a plan," Carnage said in a menacingly calm tone. "I had a plan, and then this one," he gestured contemptuously to the body of Bullseye, "Lester I think his name is, almost ruins it." Carnage glared at Luz. "You must have a habit of getting people mad, girl, if someone tried to have you assassinated. And now I have to rush."

"Oh come on!" Luz shouted. "How do you even... What can you possibly... I refuse to feel bad about this," she finished. She'd spent far too long blaming herself for the actions of others. If this creep was after her for whatever reason then whoever he hurt coming after her was on him, not her. He still needed to be stopped but... She wasn't about to replace Belos with Carnage, even as the little voice in her mind she was beginning to recognize as the depression talking insisted that Clara and Suzy had been right to blame her for Scott's uncle.

"You don't understand the power you possess, do you Princess?" Carnage growled.

Luz wasn't quite sure what he was getting at until she recalled what she'd learned from her first meeting with the Titan, about... "Oh, Titan help me."

Carnage looked like he was about to leap at Luz when a blast of white light suddenly hit him. Up in the stands, looking as ticked as was humanely possible, was Scott. He blasted Carnage with his white eyebeams again, but... Carnage didn't even flinch. Instead, he turned, with body language like a predator, to face Scott. His arm turned into a long, vicious, serrated blade.

"Find me something fast, loud, and with lots of bass," Luz heard Dazzler say to the DJ.

Amity seemed to be confused "How can you think of music at a time like this?"

Luz did not wait for Dazzler to explain how her powers worked for Amity. Instead, she summoned Stringbean and dashed back out onto the dance floor, shifting into her symbiote form in the process, and with the help of her staff fired the hottest and most focused blast of flames she could manage right into the murderer's back. "Hey! I'm the one you're after! Why don't you—" Luz's taunt was interrupted when she doubled over in pain and started coughing. It only lasted for a moment, but it was pretty clearly blood that hit the ground. She cast another healing spell on herself. "Why don't you keep your eyes on the prize, doofus!"

If there was an upside to this, it was that the pain of the bullet in her chest really took her mind off of how much her coven sigil itched.

The fireball, for whatever reason, didn't seem to bother Carnage, but her taunt seemed to do the trick as he turned back to her. "If you insist, Princess."

He stepped toward her and Luz wracked her brain for what to do... If normal fire didn't work, then maybe something... She drew a spell circle and drew on what she knew of oracle magic, conjuring a stream of dark purple spectral flames that... Carnage just walked right through. "Oh come on! I call hax!"

Carnage walked toward her slowly and menacingly before the grass around his feat suddenly erupted into thick, grasping vines that bound him by every limb. He struggled against them but they suddenly began glowing green and sprouted sharp thorns as more vines branched off from them. In the corner of her eye, Luz saw Molly's girlfriend Klara had entered the field. Looking up into the stands showed Willow, wilding Clover, bolstering the friend she'd only made just yesterday.

Molly herself, eyes blazing pink, came running in from outside of Luz's field of vision and began brutalizing Carnage with a barrage of punches like something out of Fight Fighters 6. Each impact created a resounding smack and Luz was pretty sure she could see small shockwaves come off of them and... Just how strong was Molly?

Luz was startled by a tap on the shoulder, only to turn to see April... Or rather, Mayhem. "You're not fully tapped into your ESP, are you Calamity?"

Luz was not, so she remedied that and was immediately aware that most of the audience had already evacuated. Looking around, her friends were still there, April and her friends... No sign of Gabby or Pei though, guess they didn't attend the event. She was distracted from trying to figure out who was who by Mayhem grabbing her by the shoulder and trying to tug her away. "Come on, Bruiser's basically invulnerable and stronger than Hercules but her stamina's crap when she goes all out, we don't have long."

"No," Luz said.

"You just got shot in the chest," Mayhem noted, "and frickingCarnage is after you. You need to get out of here."

"Yeah, he's after me," Luz insisted. "If I run off, he's gonna come looking and probably hurt innocent bystanders. If I stay here then..."

"You're crazy, you know that?" Mayhem dismissed.

"I've been called worse," Luz quipped. "So why doesn't fire work anymore?"

"Hax," Mayhem replied. "Carnage is... Just full of dark magic. Something to do with the Darkhold, and then being raised from the dead by merging his symbiote with the remains of this ancient Godlike symbiote-dragon... He's pumped full of power from Chthon and Knull and then he chased it by cannibalizing dozens of other symbiotes and thousands of symbiote codices." Luz would ask what those were later. "Seriously, I wasn't joking about Molly being stronger than Hercules, but, well, Carnage is still standing. This is wayover our pay grade."

"So you're saying he's an Avengers-level threat now?"

Mayhem sighed. "Yes, he's an Avengers-level threat. And I don't know about you but I don't have Iron Man on speed dial so..."

Molly was starting to slow down and Carnage managed to tear free from the vines and slashed at Molly, sending her rolling back... She didn't seem hurt, but she was clearly on her last legs as stood up shakily.

As Carnage looked ready to pounce on the girl who'd just been beating her up, Luz threw out another pair of spells. Elemental magic and knowledge of the glyphs summoned monster arms to restrain Carnage once again while construction magic raised up the earth around him and the arms holding him still to hopefully keep him pinned.

Unfortunately, the mound of earth was torn apart from the inside, exploding in a cloud of barbed tendrils, before Carnage reformed. However, shortly afterward he was assailed by a battery of kinetic blasts and laser lights. Amity was using admittedly basic bard magic combat spells, but Luz couldn't hear the rapid notes she was playing because Dazzler was using her mutant power to convert the sound into light.

What's more, it actually seemed to be working, at least better than anything else had been, but not enough. Carnage didn't signal his intent this time he just leaped, moving faster than anything Luz had ever seen, and crashed directly into Amity, cutting off the music. Luz's heart stopped as Amity's body liquified but when that liquid reformed into Amity's aboination form. With a flash of light, Ghost emerged from the remains of Dulzura and appeared in Amity's outstretched hand as Amity suddenly slithered back and reformed back into flesh and blood. With a wave of her staff, she sent an arc of her signature pinkish flames at Carnage, who once more just ate it.

"So, he's super strong now, and normal symbiote weaknesses don't work..." Luz said out loud... There were fewer people here, now. She could feel it and checking she saw that Suzy was flying off with Clara and a clearly very grumpy Scott. Molly and Klara were also clearing out... Molly seemed to be half asleep. And yet up in the stands—

The pavilion was suddenly filled with dozens of copies of Gus and Masha. Gus's were traced in Illusion blue and Masha's seemed insubstantial but they were there and... Weren't showing up on her ESP, which meant they probably weren't showing up on Carnage's either. Luz looked up to the stand to see her friends and family(and Also Masha's family, who it seemed were not leaving without them) and tried to gesture for them to run. Hunter, standing in front with Flapjack drawn, shook his head and...

Carnage was looking up into the stands, glaring with a hatred that... Luz had no idea where it was coming from. He waded through the sea of illusions and made his way toward the people she loved and Luz was at a loss for what to do, how to save them, when nothing she had worked when, suddenly, the last thing she could have possibly expected to happen did, in fact, happen.

Carnage was mobbed by a swarm of squirrels.

"Oh yeah. Squirrel Girl's here," Mayhem said, suddenly sounding much more calm. "In all the excitement I kind of forgot."

"I'm confused," Amity said.

"Yeah, I got nothing," Luz replied.

"Okay everyone!" came the voice of the last person on Luz's ESP. The fluffy-tailed redhead from the danceathon. "I've bought some time, everyone clear out!"

"He's after me," Luz declared again. "If I run he's just gonna come after me and hurt who knows how many others trying to find me."

"Pretty sure Squirrel Girl's got this, Calamity," Mayhem replied.

"I have not got this," Squirrel Girl immediately corrected as the swarm of squirrels was all suddenly and violently thrown from Carnage... You'd think that would have killed some of them but they all bounced up and scurried off, unharmed. She took a stance and a pair of bony spades pupped out the back of her hands with a loud 'snutkt' sound as if prepared to melee the murderer when suddenly out of nowhere Carnage was impacted by a blue-white beam of focused energy about the width of a grapefruit. "I do, however, have Iron Man on speed dial," she said as she relaxed.

Up in the sky was the man in question, the billionaire philanthropist in the red and gold high-tech armor was blasting a powerful repulsor from his chest node down at Carnage. And more people were approaching, fast. A Blur of red, blue, and yellow grabbed Vee and Masha from the stands, followed by green and gold grabbing Hunter and Willow and Green and silver grabbing Masha's sister and sister-in-law. He Mom and Gus were left behind at first the green and silver quickly returned for them. Next, a blur of red and silver flew off with Amity... Dazzler and the DJ started clearing out on their own, which just left Luz and April...

And a Romani woman with brown hair in a red dress with a matching tiara descended from the skies to stand between them and the killer that Iron Man had pinned.

"You two ready to get out of here?" The Scarlet Witch asked. Under any other circumstances, Luz would have been starstruck.

"Yes, ma'am," Mayhem said. "I've been trying to talk Calamity into leaving for—"

"Carnage is after me," Luz interrupted. "He keeps getting distracted... I know I'm not responsible for his actions but... I'd feel bad if I ran and someone got hurt while he was... I know this isn't healthy but I feel like I have to see him get beaten." She was... Probably gonna have to bring this sort of thing up in therapy.

"Luz, there is a bullet in your chest. You got shot. By mother-flipping Bullseye. The fact that you aren't already dead is gonna make you an answer in the next edition of Trivial Pursuits. You are in no condition to..." April seemed to be at a loss for words.

At that moment, Iron Man's beam ceased. Carnage gave a furious, primal roar as he composed himself after the attack only to immediatelybe struck by a massive bolt of lightning from out of the clear evening sky, causing him to hit the ground and start twitching.

Luz expected Mighty Thor, God of Thunder to descend into the field next, she was pretty sure that he was one of the Avengers who'd helped evacuate. It was not, however, Thor who touched back down.

"...Amity?"

TLOA

"Take me back!" Amity screamed as the tall, armored, and caped blonde human carried her through the air away from the pavilion and thus away from Luz. Luz who was still in danger. Wonderful, selfless, sometimes stupid Luz who Amity loved with all her heart and soul but who had the bad habit of always putting her needs last and therefore was almost certainly going to stay right where she was, in danger, if she had any say in the matter.

"I fear I cannot do that, young one," said the man. His voice was deep and strong and bombastic, but also warm and gentle. Like a hug.

"I have to go back! Luz is still down there," Amity insisted.

"Fear not, child. The Avengers are here and your friend is safe in the capable hands of my companions," the man said again.

"Not my friend," Amity said. "My girlfriend. Who I love more than anything else, with whom we made a promise to protect each other. A promise I can't keep if I get carried away by some blonde brute while she's still down there with the killer that's after her head! Take. Me. Back!"

"I understand your feelings but—"

"If anything happens to Luz because I was there to help her then there is no force in any dimension or reality that will protect you from me," Amity interrupted with a death glare.

The man held her so that he could meet her eyes for several seconds, and then unleashed a deep, rumbling laugh. "There are few who would dare to threaten me, child." He looked her in the eye again. "And fewer still who mean it. You truly love this Luz?"

"With all my heart."

"And you will not be deterred from lending her aid, even with my assurance that I will allow no harm to befall her?"

"I won't," Amity insisted.

The man seemed to consider something. He looked to her staff. "You are a spell weaver, yes?"

"I'm a witch, yes," Amity said.

"I presume you can fly?" Amity nodded and then he continued. "Then there's little I can do to stop you... And yet, it would be terribly irresponsible to simply allow you to return to the field of battle." Amity opened her mouth to speak but the man cut her off, "At least, not without a proper weapon. I am going to let you go now, please do not fly off."

With careful maneuvering, Amity was able to get under Ghost and begin flying upon her just as the man released her. She backed up enough to talk to him face to face. "Now what's this about a weapon?"

"I like your spirit," he said, "so I will make with you a deal: If you can hold my hammer, you may borrow it and thus return to aid your love." He then held out a massive hammer topped with a grey, stonelike metal head. "But be warned, there are many who would find it immovable."

Amity tore the hammer from the man's hands and immediately felt... She wasn't sure how she felt, like... Like if getting struck with lightning felt good instead of feeling like pain, maybe? There was a flash of light and the next thing she knew... Well, she felt heavy, as if she'd just gained a lot of muscle mass. She realized that she was now clad in armor, like the man's but more fitted, and where his cuirass was blue and his cape red for her both were abomination lavender.

The next thing she realized was that she was now standing in the air. Ghost, now animate, sat on her shoulder, and she had both a winged helmet like the man's( with slots for her ears) and a cape that matched Amity's

"What just happened?" Ghost meowed.

"I have no idea, but..." She looked back in the direction they came from. "But I know what we're going to do."

She had barely any idea of what this power was but Amity was a quick learner and it felt as if whatever wild and overwhelming power was contained within the hammer wanted to be used. On instinct, she swung the hammer and went hurtling back toward the pavilion at breakneck speeds, stopping just above it in time to see that the attack by the armored figure had ceased. Raising the hammer once more she willed whatever power was in it to strike down the killer which... probablycaused the bolt of lightning that hit him as she did so.

Amity landed and heard Luz call her name. Turning she saw her girlfriend blushing as red as Amity usually got, her eyes wide and sparkling.

The man flew in, landing next to her. "Well done, young one. Not many who I've loaned Mjolnir to have had such talent in wielding her."

"Thor," a woman in red began, "you didn't."

"She was quite insistent on returning to aid her beloved," the man now identified as Thor said. "And who am I to stand in the way of true love? Besides, something about her temperament... As they say here on Midgard, I had a hunch."

"My girlfriend can wield Mjolnir. My girlfriend is Worthy. I've kissed someone who is Worthy," Luz was muttering to herself. "This is the most amazing thing ever." Amity knew that Luz was speaking Spanish but for some reason, it sounded like the common tongue to her ears, not unlike when Ghost spoke to her.

"Okay, I'm confused... Is this not just a magic hammer?" Amity asked.

Unfortunately, that Carnage creep wasn't down yet. He growled provoking Amity to turn in time to see him push himself up and glare at her. "You contemptible wretch!"

...His voice was different compared to how he'd spoken before. His accent, too... Honestly, if Amity didn't know better...

"...No," Luz said quietly.

"Oh dear, it seems I've given away the game," he said.

"...That's not Cletus Kassady," April said... That was the name of the man who was under the symbiote right?

"No, no, no no no..." Luz said as she began to radiate panic.

The fanged mouth and red, fleshlike slime peeled away, revealing the face of a human who might have been handsome were it not for the sadistic smirk and the mad gleam in his eyes, his head crowned with messy red hair. Then his eyes began to glow a deathly blue, stripes of sickly, rotten green snaked their way across both the blood red of his body and his human-like face and two familiar horns erupted from his brow.

Luz whimpered as Belos turned to greet her, "Hello again, Luzura."