Chapter 98
A black and white streak of lightning moved around Earth so fast it seems as if they were everywhere at once. To Carnage, it was thrilling, but to Impulse, it was pure horror. He kept looking back, seeing Carnage hot on his hills. Not wanting to be caught, a wormhole opened in front of him as he entered, disappearing. Carnage also entered the wormhole, which closed soon after.
He appeared back on earth 2,989,836, continuing the chase. Looking behind him, Impulse saw Carnage still behind him, even now closer. Gritting his teeth, he decided to do what he never tried before, running on air. More precisely, running on air molecules. His legs pumped so fast that they compressed the molecules in the air beneath him into a precise, controlled column that allowed him to climb through the air like a runner sprinting up a staircase. He kept climbing, heading to Aerehold.
Carnage already formed a theory he could run on air molecules, but he wasn't fast enough to do it. But in this form, running on air will be a piece of cake. Carnage closely followed behind, having already formed a theory he could run on air but wasn't enough. Without stopping, he jumped and then continued running, chasing after Impulse. As they reached the atmosphere, it became a 'bumpy' run. Due to the oxygen level becoming lower, the higher up they went, there were lesser molecules.
By now, they were already 60 miles up in the sky, only two more miles before they reach space and 10 miles before they reach Aerehold. Impulse clicked something on his gas mask, a black full-body suit forming around his body. Once he reached space, he activated the suit. Blue fire shot out his feet as he moved higher in space. This was his second option if he failed to run on air. It allows him to fly at a speed up to Mach seven, even while in space.
Looking down, he saw Carnage standing on a molecule, staring up at him. Sticking up the middle finger at Carnage, he shot up towards the Aerehold.
"Fuck!" Carnage shouted, watching as Impulse flew higher and higher. "I need a spaceship."
Not wanting to waste time, Carnage started running back down. He landed on the top of a skyscraper that was more than 4000 meters high. He then ran down the side of the building, using his superspeed to search the city for a spaceship, but instead, he found a jetpack. There was a suit had to wear, but his ability to survive in space made it no use.
Activating the jetpack, Carnage launched into the sky at 800mph. Soon, he reached Aerehold, and immediately removed the jetpack, jumping onto Aerehold. Carnage then phased into Aerehold, running straight to where Inpulse was. Arriving at a luxurious dining room, he found Inpulse sitting on the head table, his suit still on.
"Welcome. I have been waiting." Impulse said, his voice filled with confidence.
Not caring about the small talks, Carnage immediately appeared behind Impulse, grabbing his head.
"Woah there." Impulse laughed, now on the other side of the dining hall.
Carnage looked back at the seat, seeing the after image disappears. This confused him more as Impulse shouldn't be able to trick his eyes with speed. 'Tachyon.' Carnage speculated, looking at the technology on his chest.
"They say once you reach light speed, the rule of the universe won't apply to you anymore. I wonder if it is the same as the speed force." Impulse thought, white lightning arching around his body. "Shall we see?"
With that, he disappeared. Carnage stood still, trying to sense Impulse energy. Suddenly, he burst out laughing, a crackling voice coming out his mouth. 'Stupid fucker. He just ran into the speed force. Didn't he know the closer you are to the speed of light, the closer you are to the speed force?' Just as he was laughing, he transformed back into his original form. "Guess my job is done."
Taking a step forward, Carnage appeared inside the room he normally meets the speed force, with the speed force in the form of Impulse.
"You did it. I told you you could." The speed force said, removing its gas mask.
"Yeah, because of the uniform. It will be great if I can stay in that form forever." Carnage said, "By the way, what is going to happen to Impulse? Just curious."
"Hahaha, oh him? I erased him from existence." The speed indifferently said, putting back the mask. "Now, off you go. Be ready for the next time I call you."
Suddenly, Carnage appeared in a forest on Earth -1. Recalling what the speed force said, a thought came to him. Can the speed force erase anyone when it feels like it? The thought of being erased on a whim bothered Carnage a lot.
"Better stay on its good side. No rule-breaking. It is something I can't afford to offend." Carnage sighed, going through the speed force rules in his mind. There was nothing he could do about it so he decided to ignore it and deal with the matter at hand. Getting all the information in the USB uploaded without Mister Fox getting to it. So far, Mister Fox has proven to be unblockable when it comes to information and that was a huge problem. "Before I left, I told C-1 to keep an eye on everything for me. I hope she did it well."
With a red streak of lightning, Carnage shot forward, heading towards his base. While running, he also noticed his speed has increased, now being able to cross Mach 1,000 with ease. Noticing this, he grinned. Reaching his base, Carnage immediately went to C-1's room just as she stepped out of her shower, her straight waist-length black hair still dripping with water.
"Can you please knock? I need privacy." C-1 glowered, covering herself with her towel.
"Please. I created you and have seen you naked multiple times. There is nothing I haven't seen." Carnage laughed, leaning against the door.
"Still..." C-1 mumbled, folding her arm, her wet hair falling over her eyes.
Carnage suddenly became serious and a strong pressure came upon C-1. "Now tell me all Lex and the other have been up to."
"Well, Lex has been snooping around a lot, especially to the lab where C-2 is kept. Probably stealing some documents too." C-1 said, taking a short pause. "Most definitely taking documents."
"Go on." Carnage said, folding his arm.
"He has also been talking to Mister Fox a lot. They spoke about finding your weakness, killing me, taking your experiment, and so on." C-1 casually said, going to her closet. She then looked over to Carnage, who had an expressionless face, and said, "I don't think the Joker is into this plan as he has just been terrorizing Gotham. As for Cheetah..." She shrugged, turning her attention back to her closet.
Carnage stayed silent for a while, multiple thoughts going through his mind. "How did you find all this?"
"I've mastered the art of standing so still I become invisible to the naked eye," C-1 answered, looking over to Carnage. Seeing the unimpressed look on Carnage's face, she continued. "No, seriously. Turn around and count to three."
Carnage stared into C-1 blue eyes, seeing how serious she was. Deciding to indulge her, he turned around, counting to three in his mind, before turning back around. To his surprise, C-1 was gone. Although he could still sense her presence due to their connection, he couldn't see her. "Incredible." Carnage couldn't help but admit. "How did you do that?"
With a green flash, she appeared again, now dressed in shorts and a t-shirt. "Magic."
"Wait, what?" Carnage asked, standing straight. "You mean actual magic?"
Seeing Carnage's confusion, C-1 held up the green amulet around her neck, saying. "This amulet gives me the ability."
Hearing this, Carnage appeared in front of C-1, pulling on the amulet, but all he ended up doing is pulling C-1 closer to him.
"You can't take it. It is enchanted to stay on me." C-1 said, snatching the amulet from Carnage's hand. "And if you cut off my neck, making it fall on the ground, you will be unable to lift it. No matter how much force you use, you won't be able to lift it." C-1 said, already knowing what Carnage was thinking.
"Does it give you any other ability?" Carnage asked, still eyeing the amulet.
"Uh-huh. It also gives me flight and teleportation." C-1 said, demonstrating it by floating off the ground then teleporting to her bed. "But I can only teleport to where I can see."
"Where did you get it from." Carnage asked, looking over to C-1.
"A woman named Enchantress. I saved her from the suicide squad in Peru, and she gave me this. Apparently, she didn't need it anymore." C-1 said, laying on her back and holding up the necklace over her face.
"What were you doing there? Suicide Squad? When was that a thing? More importantly, where is Enchantress now." Carnage rapidly asked, appearing beside C-1's bed.
"I think Enchantress is still in Peru. As for the Suicide Squad? I only know Harley and Ivy are part of the team. I had to hide my face when I was saving her." C-1 said, muttering the last part. She dropped the amulet and picked up her phone beside her.
"Huh... And why did you save her?" Carnage asked, looking towards the direction where the Mother Box was. Using his X-ray vision, he saw it was still there, with Lex beside it.
"She asked me to," C-1 said, noticing the strange look Carnage gave her. "What? She has the same eyes as you. If I didn't help her and she got out alive, I am sure I would have been the first one she comes after."
"I see. Well, get ready. We are going to meet her. I need you since she knows you already." Carnage said, walking towards the door.
"What? You aren't going to deal with Lex Luthor?" C-1 asked, sitting up on her bed.
Looking back at C-1, an evil smile appeared on his face. "Hoho. I will deal with it. But not now. Time to take care of my main weakness. Magic... If she doesn't help me... Well, that's another story." Carnage said, walking through the door.