“And The Worm will show us the way. And one day, we will all awaken The Worm within. But the question remains: is that day upon us? The Scripture speaks of the Lightbringer. He who will show us the Light and illuminate the True Path. And now, there is one among us who claims to be this bringer of Light. But is he indeed the one of which the Scripture speaks? I have heard you ask, ‘Is this the Light Spragmos speaks of?’
“And I say to you: I am but a man. It is not my place—nor any mortal’s—to interpret the meaning of the Scriptures. But there is also no need. For in the end, there is only The Word. And The Word… is The Worm!”
“Mama-oo-pow-pow! Mama-oo-pow-pow!”
“Now, let us pray.”
There was a mass shuffling as thousands of heads bowed. Melvern’s voice echoed across the canyon. “Mighty Spragmos, we ask you to help guide us through these troubled times. Send us Your Messenger and show us The Way. Mama-oo-pow-pow.”
“Mama-oo-pow-pow,” the crowd replied.
“Mama-oo-pow-pow!”
“Mama-oo-pow-pow!”
“Mama-oo-pow-pow!”
“Mama-oo-pow-pow!”
A blood-curdling screech tore across the arena—a thick, jagged line of sound that ripped through the canyon. It slammed Karnage in the chest so hard he stumbled back. The noise ricocheted off the walls and echoed back across the arena, slowly fading into silence. The air itself grew still. The entire world was gripped by a sudden, terrible fear. Karnage wanted to scream into the void to break its spell.
That’s when he felt it.
It started as a slight tremor at his feet, like the dull vibration of an approaching train. The tremor grew stronger and became a deep rumble. The ground shook. The earth beneath his feet churned and boiled. Karnage leaped off the fast-rising earth. He tumbled over the teeming mass until he found firmer ground. He turned just in time to see the expanding mass explode. A skyscraper shot out of the ground with lightning speed, sloughing mammoth chunks of earth in all directions. A dark shadow overtook Karnage, travelled the length of the arena, and shot up the full length of the wall behind him. Karnage found himself enveloped in cold, merciless darkness, as if the thing had risen up and swallowed the sun. Karnage craned his neck up, squinting into the sky.
The Worm towered over Karnage like a freight train balanced on one end. Hair covered a body that gyrated and pulsed like a sea of quivering tentacles. Its face was nothing but a giant mouth framed with row upon row of shard-like teeth spiralling deep into its gullet.
And jutting from the tip of its head, just barely visible against the orange-tinted sky, was a single, stubby horn.
“Well, shit,” Karnage said.
CHAPTER TEN
A ripple ran down The Worm’s body, and it toppled towards Karnage. As it fell, its hairy tentacled worm carcass became a crumbling mass of steel and concrete, and a voice called out from behind him.
“Tower’s comin’ down!” It was Cookie.
“Run!” Velasquez shouted.
Karnage’s men started running in all directions. Panic hit him hard.
This was where it all went to shit. Where they lost everything. Not this time. He wouldn’t let it happen again.
“No! This way! Follow my lead!” Karnage turned and ran away from the surging tower at a forty five degree angle. Blood pounded in his ears, drowning out the raging roil of concrete and metal as it hurtled closer and closer. His soldiers followed closely behind. He could feel their urge to turn and look, to see if they would make it.
“Don’t look back, soldier!” Karnage shouted through the cacophony. “Don’t look back! Keep running! Keep running, goddammit!” Things would be different this time. He could feel it. He’d save them. He’d save them all—
The Worm’s mass smashed into the ground, just missing Karnage by inches. He was thrown across the arena and crashed into the remains of a crumpled old jeep, his wind knocked out. The last remnants of New Baghdad were swept away by the mammoth flood of stars pouring across his vision. The crackling explosions were replaced with the fevered chants of the Spragmites.
“Mama-oo-pow-pow! Mama-oo-pow-pow!”
Karnage hugged his knees to his chest, wheezing, trying to catch his breath as the last few stars in his eyes turned to fading embers. Keep it together, soldier! Keep it together! His ribs burned. He hoped he hadn’t broken any of them.
Karnage gripped the jeep’s rusted fender and pulled himself up. The fender ripped off, leaving an edge of gleaming sharp metal. Karnage hefted it like a machete, and turned to face The Worm.
The Worm was on the other side of the arena, just coming out of a turn. It barrelled back towards him like an angry bullet train, its teeth circling its open mouth like a carnivorous black hole.
Karnage vaulted out of the way just as The Worm bore down on him. He reached out and grabbed a handful of tentacles as it blurred past. Pain shot through his arm as he was wrenched off his feet. The tentacle-like hairs whipped and lashed at his arm, wrapping around his limbs. Their grip was weak enough that Karnage could break it. In fact, rather than impeding him, they gave him better purchase on The Worm’s flank, allowing him to stick to its side like velcro.
The Worm twitched and writhed, trying to throw Karnage off. Karnage felt like a mouse riding an epileptic elephant. He’d had to free solo climb before, but never on an angry rock face that was hellbent on bucking him off.
The world suddenly spun and Karnage saw the ground hurtling towards him. Karnage dove off The Worm, just clearing its massive girth as it slammed its side into the ground. Karnage tumbled away as The Worm rolled and writhed on the ground like a dog trying to scratch its flea-ridden back. It flopped back onto its belly with frightening speed, and shot clear across the arena.
Karnage struggled to his feet. He watched as The Worm banked and turned; the hard-packed earth bucked and roiled in its wake. Wrecked military gear flew in all directions as The Worm ploughed through it, barrelling towards Karnage. It’s too fast, Karnage thought. It’s too damn fast!
Karnage hefted the torn fender in his fist. His ankle throbbed. Probably twisted. He couldn’t run anymore. He stood his ground, rusted fender at the ready. The Spragmites screamed and hollered. Karnage stared deep into The Worm’s serrated maw. The whorl of teeth grew larger and larger, taking up all of Karnage’s vision.
A high-pitched whine—like the cry of an angry bumblebee— pierced through the cacophony. Karnage looked up. There was an explosion of concrete and sparks as a battered Dabney cruiser burst over the edge of the wall. It spiralled through the air, and slammed into The Worm’s head.
The Worm let out a horrid screech and recoiled, tumbling over itself. The cruiser bounced across the arena and rolled to a stop. The Worm’s body crashed atop the cruiser just as a tiny figure leaped clear of the wreckage. Karnage smiled.
It was Sydney.
She ran up to Karnage. “You all right?”
“I’ll live.” Karnage tried to walk towards The Worm, but the pain in his ankle was too much and he crashed to the ground. Sydney helped him up.
“Where are you going?”
Karnage shook his head. “I have to do this. Now. Help me. Please.” Sydney propped Karnage up as he half-limped, half-hopped towards the massive beast. The Worm rocked itself, moaning horribly. Karnage grabbed its side, and started climbing. The tentacles made a half-hearted attempt to stop him, but they barely had any strength left. Karnage quickly scaled The Worm’s bulk and emerged onto its head.
The horn was the size of a small tree. The cruiser had mostly torn it from its base. It lolled from side to side as if in a drunken stupor. Yellow smoke spewed from the wound. It smelled like a cross between nicotine and car exhaust. Karnage wrapped his arms around the horn and pulled.