BLACK WINGS Chapter 15- Countdown by Justin Anderson
October 31st, 2002. 10:23 PM, Washington, D.C. General Robert Peterson had never visited Henry Johnson at home before. But the arrangement of religious artifacts didn't surprise him. Neither did Agent Johnson, adorned in white ceremonial robes. "General." "I take it this isn't a common ritual?" he asked. "No," Johnson replied. "If what I've been told is correct, then I may be needed. Screel has been waiting for this chance for a long time, and he'll take it. But he can be killed, it's just a matter of doing it the correct way." Peterson removed his hat, holding it. "Screel?" "Jonathan Screl. He once worked for Domientius, and even though he betrayed his master to serve us, he betrayed us, eventually. General, the Ancient Order had only six members recently. Two of those died last week. One other renounced. The other two are old, they couldn't possibly fight this. I'm the only one on this planet who could kill Screel. He cloned Carnage because he considers humans to be a disease. he has ever since he was granted his abilities over a thousand years ago. Take whatever help you can get. You need to stop Carnage, and I will need a shot at Screel. Guns won't work. I will need to do this! My ancestors fought in that war, many died to rid the world of Domientius. The bloodline is thin, and our way is disappearing. This must be done now, we may never get another chance." 10:38 PM, Manhattan Jake made further examination of the weapons the government had supplied him. They'd proven fairly effective so far. "Hey, Tobias! I have a theory. You wonder...if..." He collapsed, barely conscious. "HEY! Somebody help me!" Tobias shouted. Sabretooth heard, running in to the room. He helped Tobias lift Jake into a chair. Artemis and Toad joined them. "What the hell happened?" Artemis asked. "Dunno, man!" Magneto rushed in. He didn't like what he saw. "Jake!" He was still awake. "Get me... water..." he said. "Mystique, do as he says!" 10:51 PM Toad handed Magneto a sheet of paper. "The blood test? Hmm.... slight malnutrition," he muttered. "Probably that thing he has hooked up inside him he told me 'bout. Some sort of generator," Toad explained. Magneto made his way to Jake's room. "How are you feeling?" "Better. I know what happened. The nuclear generator in my body relies on my metabolism to recharge the cannon's battery. Screl hooked it up to the other two batteries, too. Seems the batteries take precedence," Jake replied. Magneto left the room. Artemis stopped Magneto in the hall. "We ran that DNA test you wanted. You might wanna see this." 10:55 PM Magneto read the results. Even with his knowledge of the genetic code, he still couldn't decipher the results. Mystique, however, had a theory. "It seems his DNA is... imprintable. It's as if the strands began as blank chains which were built up based on an existing model." He understood, clearly. "How would he respond to gene therapy?" he asked. 11:03 PM Carnage almost admired Osborn Industries. If he had even cared, he may have been impressed. But he wasn't here to sight see, he was here on business. "Carnage! The city fears you, the government is concerned, and you have the heroes flocking together to stop you! Even Magneto and his band of freaks want you dead!" "I know all that! Get to the POINT!" Carnage shouted. "Certainly! We both have a common enemy- Spider-Man. Which may worsen. The Black Wings is closely allied with Spider-Man, which could cause problems for myself in the near future. Your duplicate has a strong sense of heroism, a fact which bothers me. It is time we dealt with all our problems in one fell swoop. Carnage, Octavius, Electro, Scorpion, the Hobgoblin... and myself. I think it is time the Sinister Six rose again." Octavius rushed the Goblin. "Why, Osborn? So you can take what is MINE? I think NOT!" "Oh, someone get this man a tissue so he can cry himself a river! Please, I know what your group is like. You barely get along. Carnage will kill the rest when he feels like it, if no one else kills him first. The Hobgoblin no longer has a side, with Screl gone. And Scorpion... I'm still unsure about him," Osborn said. Carnage stared Octavius down. He returned the stare. Osborn stated, "You need unity. You need ME!" Carnage began cackling. "Yes. I need someone to keep them in line. You have a deal!" "HOLD IT! If we're going to be a team, we should all agree on this!" Octavius demanded. Scorpion immediately sided with Carnage. The Hobgoblin took his side, and Electro followed. "You're the odd man out, Ock," Carnage said. "The Goblin has a point. You can either help me, or-" "FINE! But do not forget who I am, and who is in charge..." Osborn picked his mask up off his desk, slipping it on. "We're all in charge. This is a team, remember? Besides, Octavius, you can help yourself to my equipment. You win, we all win." November 1st, 2002. 12:11 AM, Manhattan "Jake, we've made a rather significant discovery when studying your genetic structure. It may be possible to perform gene therapy on you," Magneto said. "Explain." Magneto handed him the report. "To put it simply, it may be possible to give you another mutant's abilities by implanting a raw genetic chain into your DNA. I say may, because we have no guarantee such a procedure would even work. Your body could reject the replacement genes, or it could even prove fatal. And even if you body does accept the genes, we could not guarantee any significant changes." "Okay. So, you want to know if I'd go through with it. Possibly for nothing, possibly die. Why not?" Jake replied. 12:23 AM Jake waited while the blood was drawn from Magneto's arm. "You sure you wanna do this, man?" "Dead sure, Artemis," Jake replied. November 1st, 2002. 12:38 AM The serum had been prepared. The relevant genetic chains extracted from Magneto's blood, implanted into Jake's own blood cells, ready to be injected into his body. "You do not have to do this," Magneto said. "I'm doing it," Jake replied. He was now wishing he hadn't proposed the idea to Jake. It sounded promising at first, but this was no longer an idea. The more time passed, the more Magneto became worried it would fail. But he could not talk him out of this. The serum was injected. It was too late to back out now. "We do not know how long this will take to work, if it does work. Even if it does, you may not show signs of it for years. You do understand?" Jake replied, "Yes. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going out." 1:02 AM Peter Parker looked out the window. It was only Jack Arden. Osborn hadn't come after him yet. He opened the door. "Peter Parker? Name's Jake Arden. I think we need to talk." JAKE Arden? Something was wrong; but his senses weren't going off. He invited the young man in. "I know who you are. I have all of Jack's memories... wish I could forget a few, but that's not why I'm here," Jake explained. "Who are you?" Peter asked. "A clone. Jonathan Screl made me to be his personal weapon. You could say I quit. Screl knows you who are, he may come after you." Parker remembered him. One of the mutants fighting along side Magneto. He'd had his run-ins with Magneto. If Lensherr was worried about Carnage, then this ran deeper than he thought. Jake removed his gloves and coat. "Screl did this to me," Jake said. "I have to stuff the fingers of my left glove with cotton just so they'll fill out. It's not all he did to me. But we need to talk about Carnage." "I know. He's with Osborn, and-" "And what?" Jake asked. Parker hesitated. He had to say it. "The Green Goblin knows who I am." Jake wasn't surprised. "Your wife here?" Parker replied, "She's asleep, but-" "Wake her up. Tell her to go somewhere, anywhere but here! Where's Venom?" Jake peered out the windows, checking the skies. Nothing. "Searching the city," Parker told him. "Find him. I'd suggest you both either come with me, or go somewhere else, but keep the Goblin from finding you. I don't know if he'll tell Carnage or the others, but if he does, they will come after you." 1:37 PM, Washington, D.C. The clone was working with Magneto. The Green Goblin had sided with Carnage. The Black Wings was not having a good day. And the day wasn't even two hours old yet! Sleep could wait. He packed as many ammo clips into his coat as he could fit, probably a few more than could fit. He crammed as many small arms and explosives as he could for good measure, and while he was at it, a few bandoliers worth of ammunition. He grabbed a full automatic assault rifle and slung it over his back. He saw a pack of cigarettes on the guard table. He'd never smoked before. Good time to start, he figured. "You mind?" "Huh? Oh, sure... take the pack if you want," the guard replied. He left weapons storage, heading straight for General Peterson's office. For some reason, he was not surprised to see a lit cigarette hanging out of Cletus Kasady's mouth. The firepower was even less of a surprise. "Where's Venom?" Cletus asked. "...Manhattan, we believe." He replied, "Thank you." 3:54 AM, Manhattan Cletus spotted the two above. He quickly made his way to the rooftop. "'Sup?" They gave him a strange look. The guns, the cigarette, the day was definitely getting stranger. "We think Osborn might tell Carnage who I am," Spider-Man said. "That sucks. Well, better we get them first then. I'd suggest you head to Captain America and get the Avengers' help. Or head to Xavier, whichever. Eddie, you want Carnage dead?" "You need to ask?" He turned away, looking for a suitable spot to fire a tendril line. "Good. Come with me," he said. "We're heading to Washington, you're loading up. I'm gonna barbecue the prick!" Imitating Parker, he fired a neat web line from his wrist, swinging from the ledge. Venom decided to follow. 6:23 AM, Washington, D.C. Eddie Brock was tired. The last thing he needed was the supply of weaponry Cletus was loading him up with. "You think this'll be enough?" Brock asked, sarcastically. "There's six of them... better get a few more grenades." Venom was getting sick of this. "Look at you! Enough firepower to wipe out a small country, the slang, and... chain smoking?" "I didn't know I needed your permission to smoke, dad!" He was ready to give a nasty reply. General Peterson entered the room before he could. "We have a bead on Carnage. Better get moving." 6:38 PM, coast of Manhattan Carnage stood at the entrance to the island facility. Long abandoned, but still there. "Why'd you drag me out here, Osborn?" The Goblin replied, "You mean, you don't know what this place is, Carnage?" "Enlighten me..." he said. Osborn pointed to the markings. "See those? You've heard the stories of the vampire nation, I assume?" "Yes... your POINT?" "This facility was one of their main facilities at one point, until Blade killed every last vampire here. But it's not the vampires I'm interested in, it's the facility. Follow me!" He followed Osborn inside, walking past burnt out security equipment. They took a lengthy trip through the ruins. "Here..." It was an open laboratory facility. "... the blood pools, long dried up. But still useful. Pumping and containing large supplies of human blood," Osborn explained. "So? You drug me out here to look at THIS?" Carnage shouted. "You still don't understand! A supply of blood this massive... what do symbiotes thrive in?" Carnage began to understand. "I see... a breeding ground." "Exactly! We refill the supplies, and use fragments of your own costume to breed an army! After all, we may as well put the human race to good use!" "Yes... YES!" Carnage shouted. "But why tell me? Ock's the science wiz!" Osborn scoffed. "I don't trust him. Neither should you. I know what he was planning to do. I had his computer system monitored, he intended to breed new symbiotes from your own, then kill you when you served no further purpose. So, we put HIM to work, and when his purpose is finished, we kill him!" Carnage laughed. He enjoyed this. "Now, Carnage, we will need blood. Shall we go kill a few thousand people? That should be enough to fill these tanks again!" Osborn stated. Carnage howled even harder. "Yes!" November 1st, 2002. 8:42 AM, Manhattan The city was unprepared for the attack. Carnage and the Goblin were grabbing people from the streets. Osborn would collect a few, fly away, and return. Carnage kept the populace busy, slaughtering anyone that dared get in his way. The slaughter helped to cover the kidnappings. But he wasn't even thinking about why he was here. He was enjoying this too much. He never noticed Spider-Man until he began reeling from the punches and kicks. He didn't care if it WAS Spider-Man. It was just another moron getting in his way. Explosions rocked the area. The Green Goblin hovered overhead. "Come on, Spider-Man! Why waste your time with HIM! It's ME you want!" he taunted. Osborn held a child by the wrist. Peter Parker let his emotions take over. Besides, Carnage wasn't carrying explosives. He gave chase, the Goblin cackling as he flew away. Carnage was free to kill once again. "HEY!" He turned into the street. The Black Wings. Carnage was going to enjoy this. "I'm gonna cut you up and- YEOWW!" He barely dodged a hail of gunfire. The spray of bullets followed him, several burying into his living skin. The pain nearly let a grenade take him down. Above, The Green Goblin laughed at Spider-Man, who could barely keep up. The arrival of the Hobgoblin made matters worse, as the glider's wing cut through the web line. "Thought you could use my help, Osborn," Macendale shouted. Osborn replied, "While your here, grab someone and follow me!" The two gliders headed for the streets. They expected to grab a few frightened pedestrians. They did not expect Magneto to rise from the crowd. Distracted, Osborn never felt Jake grab onto the glider. He fled, the young man still hanging on. He tore his adamantium fingers into the wing, the glider shaking in midair. "What? NO! You'll kill us both!" Osborn screamed. "That's just too BAD!" Jake shouted. Jake pulled himself up. Osborn dropped the hostage, shouting, "Catch!" Magneto, following behind, caught the child. Leaping, Jake dug his fingers into a ledge, leaving Norman Osborn empty handed. Magneto took control of the glider, trying to knock Osborn off. He managed to lower the glider and jump off before Magneto could kill him. Carnage had his hands busy. Literally. Sabertooth was crushing his throat, and he couldn't get the giant to let go. Sabertooth slammed him into the pavement. Carnage still wasn't through, though. He dodged another round of gunfire. Both the Black Wings and Venom were shooting at him. Norman Osborn was too busy fighting Spider-Man to run. Magneto managed to keep the Hobgoblin well occupied. And Jake... was about to face a few new arrivals. Octavius rose on his tentacles, dodging a photon burst. Jake was too busy dodging electrical bursts to fire again. 'I've had just about enough of those three.' Jake changed his plans. He let loose with an ion beam. The blue energy hosed Electro. It nulled his electrical charge, at least for the moment. 'I think it's time I took care of those arms, too. And that tail.' A quick burst shut them down. Octavius felt his tentacles weighing him down. The Scorpion ran, dragging his useless appendage. He found Carnage, dragging him away from the fight. "It's time we left!" Norman took a chance and ran. The Hobgoblin followed. Octavius took his leave as soon as the power to his arms was restored. The six had fled. 9:14 AM Jake drove his fist into the wall repeatedly. He made several dents. "This is because they got away, isn't it?" "We had them, and we let them run!" Jake shouted. "Unfortunately... you'll find life full of such failures. We will have our chance soon enough," Magneto said. Jake stormed off. Magneto sucked the dents out of the wall. Sabretooth gave him a quizzical look. "He needs sleep. Leave him be" 9:19 AM General Peterson had led an inspection of the underground lab. They found nothing. It had been abandoned. Octavius had even taken the plutonium with him. The Black Wings had just joined the inspection team. "Do we know this is Norman Osborn we're after?" Peterson asked. "Well, Spider-Man seemed convinced," Cletus replied. "All right. I'm ordering Osborn watched. His home, his offices, everything. If he's the Green Goblin, the rest of them won't be too far away. I want them alive. I'll shoot them myself for what they've done, all of them. They attacked this city... A thousand dead. Carnage is trying to top Osama bin Laden, it's a game to him!" 9:26 AM The bleeding was going well. Thirty seven people had already offered sufficient blood for a test run. Carnage allowed a portion of his suit to sink into the fluid. If he was lucky, this would take. Osborn shackled the survivors to a wall. Each was weak from the blood loss, but he was keeping them alive. "See, Carnage? Why kill them when blood is a renewable resource? Besides, kept weak enough, hungry enough, they'll gladly accept symbiotes," he said. "Yeah, well, why not just grow the symbiotes inside 'em?" Carnage asked. "Because it is easier to store the blood in these containers and supply nutrients directly than to rely on living hosts! They could fight the bonding. Blood can't!" 9:44 AM The Black Wings stormed through the front door of Osborn Industries. General Peterson and several armed soldiers followed. "Where's Osborn?" Peterson asked. The secretary looked concerned. "I think he's out for the day," she replied, "but I could page him and see-" "Never mind. We're going up," Cletus said. He kicked in the door to the stairway. The mass of troops ran upward. Below, Octavius watched the security monitors. "Very interesting. We could crush them right now. But, let them have their fun. They will not find Osborn, or Carnage." The other three ignored him. Scorpion was too busy messing with the radio, Electro was stripping the insulation off a power cord, and the Hobgoblin was sleeping. 'Idiots, all of them!' He left the room, taking temporary refuge inside one of the empty labs. This "arrangement" with Norman Osborn had, so far, been unproductive to his own ends. Osborn seemed determined to work with Carnage, using the others as physical labor. He would not tolerate it much longer. Even if it meant killing them both. The room began to glow as a bright green flame erupted in the center of the floor. A shape appeared, reveling itself as the ethereal energy dissipated. "Greetings, Octavius. My name is Jonathan Screl. I believe you can help me take care of a problem we both seem to have right now." 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.