BLACK WINGS Chapter 6- I Have Seen The Face Of Hate, part 1 by Justin Anderson June 23, 2002. Washington, D.C., 7:23 AM "Hold him back! One guess what he's after, and I don't want him near it! Shoot to kill!" Gunfire tore into the attacker as he ripped through the facility, brushing off his injuries. "Get flamethrowers in here now! I want Venom put down!" He was after Carnage. His other's desire to once again feed on it, to take back what was stolen. And no government facility, however well armed, would hold him from it. He screamed out, "We want Carnage! Give it to us NOW!" "FIRE!" came the command. He dodged the hail of bullets, leaping past them. He ran down the hall, tearing open a pair of steel security doors. He saw it in front of him, across the room. The red liquid, which he knew came from his own alien half. Scientists were tossed aside, bullets in his back ignored as he forced his way to the container. "VENOM! Do not open that container! If you do, we will be forced to-" He ripped the lid off. The Carnage symbiote didn't hestiate. Buffalo, NY. 10:56 AM "What the HELL did you just say?" General Peterson shouted. "What- why wasn't I notified earlier? I'm on my way back now. When I get down there, you'd better have a good explanation for this..." He ran to the trucks loading debris. "Cletus!" he yelled out. He turned from the truck, facing his employer. "Bad news... just got the word that your friend Venom tried to steal the Carnage symbiote... it happened this morning. Some genius decided not to let me in on this. I'm heading to DC, Agent Johnson's coming with me. For now, stay here and help the cleanup." "NO! I'm going and-" General Peterson simply said, "Please... until I know the details, I'd rather not send you off on some hunt. Just... I have to go." Cletus just knew today was going to be one of those days. Washington, D.C., 11:34 AM "Well, someone's getting fired for this. Now, who's the idiot I get to fire?" "General, we weren't prepared for anything like this," the head of security said, defending his job. "Come inside, please." Peterson hated this guy. Security Chief Roger Ingersol, always making some sort of excuse when something happened. He'd waited to get rid of him with proper grounds. Peterson had found his man to fire. "How many casualties?" he asked. "Seventeen dead, thirty-eight wounded. Most of the wounded couldn't be moved out, so we had to set up a temporary hospital." He looked over the living, lying on beds set up all over. Most too hurt to move, some unconscious, some probably wouldn't make it more than a few hours. This continued when he reached the floor below, and on through the labs. The room was filled with the injured. He paused at one bed. "Wait... I know him..." "Sir? Oh... Name's Eddie Brock," Ingersol replied. "I know that! He broke in here. Why is he laying in this bed? And where's..." He noticed the container. "...Carnage?" he finished, disappointed. "That's... the problem. Venom didn't kill anyone, or really harm anyone, as far as we can tell. It was-" Peterson slammed Ingersol into the nearest wall. "You're responsible for this! Do you know how much blood is on your hands? Do you know what your incompetence will do to countless lives? Because you didn't do your JOB, that monster is free! You're fired! And you'll be lucky if I don't have you executed for treason!" 11:41 "WHAT! I'm on my way down there now!" Cletus threw the phone down. The trucks barreled down the highway, headed for home. They were passing through New Jersey, making decent time. Hopefully, they could move faster. "Hey, guys, something just-" In the split second between the radio call and the explosion of the right rear tire, Cletus knew exactly what was happening. It had found him, somehow. Moved as fast as it could, toward him. The truck flipped, throwing him and the driver around inside the cab. Skidding on its side, it was lurched forward as the truck behind collided. Followed by the third, unable to stop. The pile of metal flew down the road, taking out several passing cars. The surrounding forest was littered by flying metal and debris. It was at least another minute before the entire mass came to a stop. He waited. Nothing. The sound of a horn that would not shut off, nothing more. How long had it lasted? Ten seconds? Ten minutes? He couldn't tell. He pulled himself from the cab, the door opening upward. His ribs hurt. He checked the driver. Too much blood. He fell to the ground. "Coat... in the back..." He grabbed the Ingram. He was in too much pain to walk. Even his symbiote offered no aide. He crawled along the ground. He was sure one of his legs was broken. His coat was in the back. It may offer some shielding, and he'd had it stocked with weaponry. Plus, he still had the Crater Maker. Halfway. Movements were painful, but his healing factor was working. Slowly. A foot came down near his head. He recognized it. Too late to react. Something tore his back open, through his chest. It held him to the ground. "Well, well... Cletus Kasady... I'd ask how you were doing, but I don't really care!" the creature shouted. "You can't kill me, and you know it... besides... you don't have your dark god around..." "Oh, him... I don't need him. Neither did you, for that matter." He tried to raise his gun, but a tendril grabbed it from him. "They lied to you! All of them! The priests, the books, your government! They thought they could make you trust them. They wanted you to become their puppet..." "Wh... what?" letus asked. He coughed up blood as he spoke. It was hard to breathe, and he knew Carnage saw it. "You dense little man! Domientius never used you! He didn't even show up until you got me back! Speaking of that. Venom's probably dead right now, too. Don't you get it? You were never some demon's pawn for world conquest when you came out screaming! You were the way you were!" Carnage shouted out. "No..." "YES! You killed all those people because you wanted to! And you enjoyed it!" Carnage again gloated. "You're... ly... lying," Cletus stuttered. "No... now, it's time to get rid of you, and- huh?" The blade was forced out, pushing Carnage back. Carnage dropped the gun. Grabbing it, Cletus rose, taking a shot. The bullets split Carnage's skull. The next shot jammed. In pain, he took his only option. He stood, facing Carnage down. "Well, WELL! So, the little hero CAN'T let go... is that the other symbiote?" Carnage asked. The symbiote pulled back, revealing a corpse. It closed around the face once again. "Now, I have something to do, and I don't have time for this pathetic act-" Cletus tackled the symbiote, knocking him back. As Carnage gathered himself off the ground, Cletus ran. He ducked inside the trailer. "That's IT! I have HAD IT! Cletus, get out here and take what you deserve! Your legacy!" Carnage jumped on top of the truck, tearing it open. A gun shot broke his concentration. The shell tore through Carnage, taking out most of the torso he'd been using. A second split his left shoulder open. Reeling, he had no time to dodge the C-4 bomb tossed at him, sticking in the symbiotic mass. "See you in Hell..." A final shell ignited the explosive, tearing the trailer to shreds. Cletus wasn't sure which was louder, the explosion or the symbiote's screaming. Not that it mattered. Carnage was either dead, or close to it. He coated himself in a symbiotic layer and ran, though taking his share of shrapnel in the blast. The smoke cleared. Carnage was huddled in a pile. "No... it... can't happen this... way. No... I must... have that..." Cletus heard sirens. Police, ambulances, maybe others. Carnage, gathering his strength, jumped backwards, taking a path through the woods. Cletus was in too much pain to follow. His symbiote returned to his blood. A small took the form of his shirt, hopefully long enough to hide his injury. Washington, D.C. 4:22 PM Henry Johnson walked with Cletus down the hall of the Pentagon's bottom level. Both men moved rapidly, ignoring others in their way. "Stop!" Cletus demanded. "Yes?" Agent Johnson asked. "I have something to ask. Carnage told me... never mind. Just... NEVER MIND!" They headed down the hall, stopping at General Peterson's office door. "Carnage dies. We find him, he dies. I don't care what your orders are. Understand me?" Kasady asked. Agent Johnson replied, "Yes, but-" He grabbed Agent Johnson and shoved him against the wall. "YOU FUCKING LIED TO ME! You and your worthless religion! How DARE you people lie to me and use me as your puppet? You're just too lazy to do your own job!" "What- what are you talking about?" he asked. "YOU KNOW! He never used me, you people did! That THING never inhabited my body! You needed a pawn because you wouldn't fight back, is that it? He wasn't even a threat, you just kept him around to keep me on a leash!" Cletus shouted. "Excuse... me. EXCUSE ME!" He pushed Cletus out of the way, slugging him. "We never told you anything about Carnage!""FUCK CARNAGE! You know damn well I mean Domientius!" Agent Johnson replied, "Domientius? We never lied about that! How could we! Even the high priests read the prophetic note found... and... Cletus? CLETUS! Snap put of it! This is what Carnage wants!" "Huh...? Oh..." Cletus slumped against the wall. "I'm sorry... Carnage told me that Domientius never possessed me. Is that true?" he asked. "I... I'm not sure anymore. I believed it, but, how could there be a prophetic note telling about it?" The door opened. General Peterson stuck his head out. He eyed the two. "...what the hell is going on out here? Get inside, now!" he ordered. The two men entered the office. "I'm going to pretend I didn't see that... now, Cletus, I'm sending you to Manhattan immediately. Definite lead on Carnage. As to Eddie Brock, he's still in a coma. Any idea why he'd break in like that?" "He ate the symbiote once before. He was probably trying to do it again," Cletus said. "Understandable... I think we need to separate him from his symbiote. I'm starting to consider having these symbiotes destroyed. Yours doesn't cause any sort of mental damage, but it's from a different source. These other two.. fine, I'm going to hate myself, but what was that about in the hall?" he asked. "Well... Carnage told me that Domientius never possessed me" Both men could see the General silently utter a string of obscenities. "Wonderful... he did this to mess with you, right?" "Yeah," Cletus replied. They watched another string of obscenities being mouthed. "Great... well, until you find proof otherwise, assume he's lying. This IS Carnage, after all. Now, as to this lead, we've wasted too much time. Come with me," he ordered. They followed him out of the office and to an elevator. Stepping in, Cletus was handed a folder. "Carnage attacked a prisoner transport fifteen minutes ago. He was after the... cargo," General Peterson explained. Cletus opened the folder. he saw a photo of the man Carnage freed. "Electro..." 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.
