BLACK WINGS Chapter 7- I Have Seen The Face Of Hate, part 2 by Justin Anderson
June 23, 2002. Manhattan, 5:56 PM "You can back out... I'd rather you did, actually," he said. Cletus looked over the edge, to the city below. Still undisturbed, still safe. "I can't do that. I can't stand by... I can't hide. Carnage is my responsibility," Spider-Man replied. "Maybe... I need to tell you what he did to Eddie," Cletus said. Spider-Man kept his watch on the city, but kept listening. "He's not...?" "No," Cletus replied. "But, they don't know when he'll wake up. And Carnage... he's not using a human host. I don't know if we can stop whatever it is. His mind.... isn't human. It's that symbiote. It's become intelligent somehow." "Anything else I should know?" Parker asked. Cletus spotted a suitable spot to fire a tendril. "...not right now," he said. He dropped from the roof of the Empire State Building, stopping himself as a tendril shot out, the momentum swinging him forward. Spider-Man was not far behind. Manhattan, 42nd Street. 6:06 PM A manhole cover slid off, a pair of eyes looking outward. The street was quiet enough, but there were enough people along the sidewalks. He pulled himself to the street, and as people began to notice, Electro let off a charge powerful enough to envelop the area. Every human, pet, car, and electrical appliance in the field felt the power flowing. In seconds, pedestrians were out cold, and nearby cars had wrecked into local businesses. "ALL CLEAR!" he shouted. Carnage jumped to the street above, admiring his new partner's work. "Kind of unfair, but it should draw wussy out. I know he's here... but I'm going to see how many people I can kill first," Carnage muttered. He grabbed an older woman by the collar of her dress. Before he slung his arm, he looked at Electro. "WELL?" "Help yourself. I'm a criminal, not a murderer," Electro replied. "Fine, go loot or something. MORE FOR ME!" 6:11 PM Carnage had piled up the bodies while Electro kept the police occupied. But Carnage was losing his patience. "Screw this! Where the hell is he? Not like him to- well, well... about TIME!" he said as he spotted the two heading towards him, coming through the air. He knew Cletus was making a straight line towards him. "Hold the wall crawler... but I want him ALIVE! Cletus is mine..." Carnage ordered. Spidey swung, kicking Electro into a wall. Carnage sighed. But, managed to avoid the same fate by dodging his attacker. He sprung towards Cletus, blades swinging. Cletus matched them with his own symbiotic claws, keeping the monster at bay. He managed to dodge a quick electrical burst. "Hold, still, Cletus! I can't have you jumping around!" "Why? Wait, don't answer. I don't really care!" Kasady shouted. Spider-man, meanwhile, took down Electro with a single blow. Carnage wasn't thrilled. He especially didn't like the military vehicles approaching. "Okay, new plan..." Dodging his former host, Carnage held onto the face of a nearby building, firing a tendril, swinging wide enough to grab Electro. Clear of the heroes, he held onto a wall, long enough for Cletus to see him. "It's a trap..." Spider-Man said, "Probably, but-" "STAY HERE! Carnage is my problem," Cletus demanded. He followed, firing his own tendrils to keep up the pace with the symbiote. Carnage moved faster than he'd hoped, though, flying through the city faster than Cletus could keep up. "Electro, spot me a good place to- aww, dammit!" A police helicopter had caught up with the party. It hovered near Carnage. "Surrender immediately! Set down-" "SCREW THIS!" he screamed. Small spikes flew from the costume, taking out the rotors. Carnage kept moving as Cletus stopped. His tendrils caught the falling chopper, wrapping around the mass to act as a net. He lowered it several stories to the ground, but kept his eyes on his former self. The copter safe, he followed. He knew where they went, chasing after was a matter of catching up before they disappeared. He landed on a rooftop. He HAD lost them. He eyed the city, but his concentration was off. Saving the helicopter meant losing his target, and possibly more lives to the creature. He forgot to watch his back. He noticed the sounds behind him, but he was too late. A pair of hands grabbed his head. He was lit up by thousands of volts. Electro had him. Cletus couldn't even think, let alone react. The pain was unbearable, burning from the inside. His symbiote couldn't take the stress either, pouring to the rooftop and leaving its host. The symbiote helpless, and Cletus limp, Electro threw him aside. "Nice job," Carnage said. "Now, I won't kill you. Go watch for the spider. I have work to do." Carnage grabbed Cletus, staring at the face of the man he was. "This is for your own good, Cletus... and mine." The symbiote stretched out, enveloping Kasady, It left the corpse it had used for a body, coating Cletus in a blanket of red. The outer skin seeped in. Electro shouted, "Hey, Carnage! Web-slinger moving up fast!" No response. He turned to see Cletus standing face to face with him. "Good. I'm gonna need a few minutes to... complete things. Remember, I want him alive." He stepped back, leaving Electro to deal with Spider-Man. And that, he did. The two traded punches, Spidey avoiding short electrical bursts, Electro dodging web lines. "Very nice... Spider-Man, after I deal with THIS, I'll tie up a few loose ends with you," the voice said. "Cletus, stop fighting me. I can fell you trying! it won't work..." Spider-Man caught a glimpse of Cletus, watching him. The look in his face was all wrong, but too familiar. He knew something was very wrong. He slugged Electro, hard. The slack body lying on the roof, Spidey took his chance. Electro was held down by webbing. He wasn't moving anytime soon. He stayed well away from Cletus. "What's wrong, SPIDER-MAN? Huh? What?" Carnage shouted. "All that work Cletus did to make up for the past, worthless? I hope so... I had to work at getting this body back. And his mind... what do you hate more? That I ruined him? Or that I have this indestructible body! As I was promised!" "You're not Cletus," Parker said. "Not yet," Carnage replied. "He's still in dream land. I just have to get inside his head. I have HIM stored away! His mind before... he will be resurrected! Come on, stop me! Don't just stand there, stop me!" He stayed back. He knew his chances were small. Cletus was an immortal now, and with the symbiote operating the frame, it had a powerful weapon at its disposal. "Smart man! You're waiting for something... you know if you rushed me, you'd be a dead man before you had a chance! Come on, web me! Watch me dodge it! I will... I will... will... not... not let you WIN!" Carnage was snapped backwards as one of his fists smashed his own face. Blood streamed down his mouth. 'Get outta my body!' the thought echoed. 'NO! The more you fight it, the worse it'll be!' Carnage thought. He knew Cletus could hear him. Both minds struggled inside the body. Spider-Man watched, waiting for an opening to do something. His opening crawled up on his shoulder. "You'll... need my... help... just follow my lead..." the symbiote managed. He simply nodded. Cletus continued to fight inside his own head, the world black. All he saw was a face, laughing at him, but he lashed out against it. Neither noticed Spider-Man close in, fists slamming into their body at an alarming rate. Peter Parker was taking advantage of his extra speed and strength to knock some sense into the Carnage symbiote. It seemed to be working. Cletus kneeled over, blood dripping from his face. "Keep....keep it up! It's ruining him...SHUT UP!" In a split second, he made an important realization. The voices were different. One was the voice he knew long ago, of a madman. The other was a stronger voice, of a hero. He continued to wail on the helpless man, knowing it to be for the best. The body crumpled, but both minds were still fighting. The long, black coat thrown free, Spider-Man caught it before it was caught in the wind.... the wind rising from an approaching helicopter. It reached the ledge, Agent Johnson stepping down, holding a rather large weapon. "Stand back!" he ordered. Flames shot out, hitting Cletus Kasady. Cletus felt the pain, knew what it was. Carnage knew it, too. All too familiar. And, while Cletus could bear the pain, the symbiote could not. It left his body, pooling on the roof. Cletus, still conscious, rolled around, trying to put out the flames. It had saved him once before, and it was time to return the favor. This symbiote knew what Carnage was like. And, with another bonded, Carnage could not return. It left Spider-Man, returning to its host. The flames were put out, smothered under the living suit. Metabolism and healing driven to maximum, Cletus rose. Carnage returned to the corpse it had taken. "Cletus... you need me. you are Carnage!" "No. I am the BLACK WINGS!" he shouted. Carnage was hit over and over by a flurry of punches. Not only suffering from cellular damage from the flames, the symbiote was also torn apart from the inside as small tendrils from the other symbiote reached in and damaged the living cells. It had no choice. It had to run. Leaping, Carnage collected Electro, and fled. 7:31 PM, south Manhattan Carnage sat at a small table in the abandoned plant warehouse. It was tired. "You can go, Electro," he said. "Hey I thought we had a-" "Deal's off... I can't pay you. I'm... I'll be dead within a few hours. I need a host," Carnage explained. "Then use me," Electro offered. Carnage slammed his head into the table, pooling along the surface as the symbiote fell apart. "No good. I need... if I don't bond with Cletus, implant the mind... I need his metabolism. I can't heal. I almost... I almost HAD HIM! I lived so long without him. Go. The legacy is over. Carnage is dead, so be it..." Electro turned, and began to walk away. "Very, very nice speech, Carnage," a voice echoed. Both turned their heads to the source of clapping hands. Someone was approaching. "Who are you?" Electro asked. The stranger said, "You must be Electro." He sat something on the table. It was a small metal case. "Carnage, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Jonathan Screl." "And I'm... supposed to care?" he said. "You might," Screl answered. "I'm here to help." 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.