BLACK WINGS Chapter 4- Blood Ties by Justin Anderson December 8th, 2000. 2:35 PM, Manhattan "Oh, come on! You can put up more effort than THAT!" Spider-Man jumped in time to avoid being sliced in half. The crimson chaos spun and swung again, the second blade again coming closer to its target. "Okay, if you want to play rough..." He leapt, bringing both fists into Carnage's chest. The force knocked the murderer back, but barely phased him. The psycho cackled at the effort. "NICE! But I don't have time to PLAY!" he shouted. "I haven't given this new symbiote a full test yet! Ah..." Carnage stared like a kid on Christmas day as a car pulled in the alley. Springing, he landed on the hood, his right arm pulled back, the blade ready to plunge into the driver's heart. "Yeah... this new symbiote... this NEW symbiote... can..... NO!" he screamed, drawing back in panic. "This is a fake. My other half is still gone!" Falling back, Carnage fought an internal war, Cletus Kasady winning as the symbiote was forced from his body, screaming in its own pain as it poured down a nearby manhole. Standing, Cletus stared the wall crawler over, shouting, "I may have gotten rid of... the joke, but don't think you've-" Spider-Man silenced Cletus Kasady with a single blow. June 10, 2002. 11:48 PM, Washington, D.C Cletus Kasady awoke in his motel room. A dream? Not exactly, more like a moment replying itself in his head. The second symbiote from the Negative Zone, the one he'd abandoned for some reason. He had never figured out the cause for it, other than a conflict of interests between himself and the symbiote, at the time. He was, after all, a different person then. June 11th, 2002. 2:02 PM, Arizona Cletus sat down, looking over the stack of damage reports to the old farm house sitting in the middle of the desert. The same house he sat in right now, repairs complete. The phone rang. "Yeah?" The voice replied, "Cletus. I hate to call when you just got settled in... General Peterson wanted you notified of some strange activity you may be needed to investigate." "I'm listening," he replied. "Of course. Roughly twenty miles from the town of Tuweep, not too far from the edge of the Grand Canyon, a local resident has been harassed by a few men asking to buy his property. One of them went to the police, claiming to have been attacked by.... how shall I say this... some THING. The local man has refused police interviews. PLEASE, I know you just arrived, but if some creature is in the area, we need to find out." 4:21 PM "Go away! I didn't see nothin'! How could I? I can't see nothin' anyways!" The old man tapped his cane as he turned from the door, slamming it shut in Cletus's face. 'Great... old guy's blind. I can tell THIS is going to be fun,' he thought. The heat was well beyond tolerable, and he figured searching the property would be pointless. The whole thing stank of a bad joke in the desert sun. He took another look at the house as he stepped towards his motorcycle. Something was staring through the window at him. Definitely not human, and definitely familiar. The shape disappeared instantly, but Cletus knew he had seen something. But in this heat, he could have seen anything. He left. "I don't believe it... it's him," the creature said. "Who cares?" the old man replied. "We don't need 'im..." "Stay here. I'm going to follow him." The form crept along, out the window. He shouted, angrily, "Oh, like I'm gonna LEAVE?" 4:48 PM He looked down the chasm, the floor of the canyon seeming as close as it was far. He pulled out a pair of sunglasses, slipping them on. There was no one around for miles. At least, that's what he thought. In the distance, he could make out a vehicle headed his way. A black Mercedez, stopping feet from him. "You're a little off road, don't ya think?" he shouted at the car. A head peered out from the passenger's side. "HEY! You don't worry about us. Just keep your nose in your own business, and no one gets hurt," the mystery man shouted. "Someone's been spying on me..." he muttered, drawing his Ingram. "okay, get out. Come on, you pussies, get out..." The doors opened, three individuals pouring out. Each man wore torn clothing, tattoos covering their arms. Stepping closer, each drew a weapon, trained on him. "He can't shoot us all at the same time," the first said. "I say we waste him and dump the body down there." "Sounds good to me!" the second said. No one noticed the sand rising and slithering, or the movements by the crowd's feet. Before anyone could fire, however, this desert shape made itself known, as a spike rose from the sand, piercing one through the chest. The others stared in horror, Cletus looking on in disbelief. 'Oh, well... can't waste an opportunity' Firing, he took the second in the head. The third ran screaming, jumping in the car and speeding off. The area was clear. "Okay, I knew it. Come on out, I know what you are," he shouted. The sand stirred, the movement pouring into a single spot. Bubbling from the sand, a red liquid took shape into a large blob. On top, a familiar face took shape, staring at him. "Carnage is locked away," he said. "Long time," the form greeted. "Yeah, I know... thanks for the help, but I didn't need it. And if you want a home, I'm not for rent. I've had enough symbiotes." The symbiote writhed, taking shape above the sand, settling on a nearby rock. "Who said I needed a home? I have one..." "And where'd you learn to talk? For that matter, why are you here? Shouldn't the Negative Zone have swallowed you by now?" he asked. He further commented, "... why do I get the feeling I'm wasting my time?" "Cletus, you never got it, did you? You did back when you rejected me... I felt it. You were so hateful, you couldn't stand the sliver of goodness I had within me. I was Carnage by physical form, and it wasn't good enough... but I've heard about you. You changed since then. And I know all about Carnage. Some things that not even YOU know..." He turned, putting his gun away. "Good for you. Now, go back to wherever you crawled from. I have a job, and I plan on doing it, even if I have to roast in this heat!" "Just for the record, I didn't come here for- watch OUT!" The stab victim, laying wounded, was still alive. He had drawn a sawed-off shotgun. One shot was enough to knock Cletus back, sending him over the edge. "Holy SHIT!" Cletus opened his eyes, expecting to find himself on the bottom, in a bloody pile. He fould his leg wrapped in tendrils. "You are going to pull me up. When I get there, you will take me to where you've been staying. Understood?" "I do. I can feel it in your DNA... but I wasn't going to let you fall." 5:31 PM "Look, I was just watching out for my home. I didn't hurt no one," the old man complained. "He's been my eyes and a good pal to me for quite some time now." Cletus looked at the symbiote, resting in the corner behind a small chair. The house was full of nothing but old furniture and heirlooms, another old farm house in the middle of nowhere. "You don't realize how dangerous these creatures can be. Venom can barely keep a straight head since his drives him INSANE half the time... and I don't need to tell you what the Carnage symbiote was responsible for. As well as the few others... for that matter, we have no idea what this thing is," he explained. The symbiote asked, "Hey, can I speak up here?" The creature was crawling to the middle of the room. "Think about me however you want... but you know I'm barely one of those alien creatures. You saw it in your mind. Why else would you reject me when you were insane? You knew it when you- Carnage tried to kill trillions in the Negative Zone. Because I'm not Carnage. That's why you rejected me." The old man dropped to the floor as the glass behind him shattered. It happened suddenly, neither preparated for the sound of glass breaking, neither prepared for the blood. "No... No. NO!" the symbiote screamed. Cletus looked out a nearby window. The same car from earlier sat outside. He checked the old man on the floor. "Dead. Looks like the bullet went right through." "Well, let's go out there and-" "Stay here," Cletus ordered. He drew his weapons, heading for the front door. "But, we can do this faster!" the symbiote said. He shouted, "NO!" He kicked the door down, firing. As the hail of bullets ceased, he shouted, "You killed the old man who lived here. You're joining him." Before he could open fire again, he fell. His knee had been opened up by a single shot. They opened fire, all guns blazing. They drug him into the open, pulling his coat off. "Hey... not a single hole. I may have to keep this," one of them commented. He couldn't move, and he did no better breathing. Losing blood, his eyesight was also going. He was unable to fight as he was beaten. "Sonuva... he's STILL kicking! Hey, grab that rock! Smash his head in!" From inside, it watched as Cletus was abused. He felt the altered genetic structure, but wondered if it would help. He may live, but in his condition, it could take years to heal if his head was smashed open. It gathered itself on the windowsill, stretching towards the ground. Tendrils shot out, pouring into Kasady's wounds, until every last piece had crawled in. No one had noticed. 'Come on, Cletus...' 'All right. Just follow my lead.' He immediately stood, leaping for the porch. The symbiote gave him the strength and speed, made him work through the pain. 'You should know this one,' he thought, pressing two fingers into his palm. A tendril fired from his wrist, engulfing his attackers. Another tendril gathered his coat. He was deciding what to do with his captives. "This property will either go to relatives or the government. Whoever sent you after this place won't get it. Tell me who it is, and I might let you live," he told them. They mulled it over. "Some woman. Said she was head of Omni-" Another bumped him, shouting, "shuddup, dumbass!" Cletus considered it. "Not a complete answer. Wanna try again?" No response. "Okay..." He got on his motorcycle, starting the engine. "Hey, what are ya doin'?" one of them asked. "Leaving you to bake out here. Unless you want to answer me," he replied. They didn't. "Listen, we're dead either way, let's not give him the satisfaction," one said. Cletus took it as a no. He left. 8:41 PM, Washington, D.C. "I'm not sure. All I got was a woman, head of omni-something. They wouldn't tell me the rest," Cletus explained to General Robert Peterson. "Wonderful. All I can do is check every company or group with 'omni' in their name, see which are run by women. It'll be a waste of time though. What about that symbiote?" "I'm going to keep it, for now, see how it goes," Cletus answered. "If it IS different from the basic symbiotes, this may be a useful partnership. Besides... these abilities are useful on their own, might not be a bad thing." Notes: Set within the Marvel universe, I will be using my own continuity, mixed with new characterizations for some established characters from Marvel's story universe. These stories are a sequel to my fiction series Maximum Carnage. Cletus Kasady, Carnage, and others are copyright Marvel Comics. Jack Arden, Raicaak, and others are copyright myself. Other characters appearing may be owned by separate parties. I make no claim of copyright on any character I do not own, only on these stories and those I do own. Characters used without permission/not for profit. These are strictly fan stories. Permission to reprint extends to placing this text, unaltered, elsewhere online. It may not be altered, and especially NOT TO BE SOLD, unless Marvel wishes to license this series from me. Black Wings song and lyrics copyright Tom Waits.
