BLACK WINGS Chapter 26 - We Walk Alone by Justin Anderson
Friday, March 7th, 2003. 8:01 PM, Westchester Jake landed the Blackbird, carefully guiding it to the landing pad and into the hangar. Shutting off the engine, he headed for the mansion. "I'm back and.... hello?" The rooms were empty, none of the X-Men around. 'Okay... maybe they had to do something, didn't have time to call me back,' he thought. He looked for a note, finding nothing. He heard the front doors open. Looking over the second floor railing, he spotted Tobias and Artemis. "You know where everyone else is?" he asked. "Nah, man," Tobias replied. "Yeah, we went to that concert. Ice-T, great show!" Artemis added. "That's perfect. Everyone else is gone." Jake spotted the burn mark on the wall. 'Cyclops...' He jumped the railing, landing in front of the two mutants. "There's a scorch mark up there. Fresh," he said. "What?" Tobias demanded. "I'm saying, they're gone! Now, you two have any ideas?" "Well," Artemis said, "I can try Cerebro, but I'm not very good with it." 8:27 PM "No good, I can't do this!" Artemis shouted. "All right," Jake said. "We're gonna need help. Try to find Magneto and the others if you can." 8:35 PM General Peterson picked up the phone. "Hello? Yes, Jake?" "I need the Black Wings," Jake said. "I don't know where he right now. Is it important?" General Peterson replied. "Not as such." Jake hung up. 8:42 PM "Found something," Artemis said. "Strong signal in D.C., I think it's Mystique." "That's good, any idea how we get in touch with her?" Jake asked. "Well, I could try to get an exact fix on her, but I'd probably fry my brain in the process. But, I could try sending her a telepathic message. Assuming I'm strong enough and can project that far." "Get to it then," Jake ordered. 8:57 PM The phone in the study rang. Jake dived for it. "Yeah?" "I'm either going crazy, or someone was sending me a telepathic message," Mystique said. "We were, actually. The X-Men are missing. It's just me, Tobias, and Artemis. I can't find the Black Wings. We need Magneto!" "I believe I know where he is... I'll contact you later." 10:39 PM Magneto touched down at the back of the mansion. Jake let him in. Two figures were heading their way. "Good, everyone's here," Jake said. "I do not like this," Magneto shouted. "Whoever did this was too good. To leave no signs of a struggle, to not set off the mansion's defenses, to not alert you in the Blackbird... " "I can't remember my birthday," Artemis said, rubbing his temples. "You've been using Cerebro. Perhaps I should try," Magneto said. Sabretooth sniffed the air. "They were here, several. I don't recognize anyone." Magneto placed the helmet on his head, concentrating. A small blip appeared on the map. "There. Faint, possibly shielded, but Xavier is trying to contact someone." "So, where is it?" Tobias asked. "Canada. About twenty miles across the border, almost directly north of the mansion," Magneto replied. Jake grabbed the phone in the next room. "Did they arrive?" Mystique asked. "They're here. I want you to stay wherever you are. If we don't come back, at least someone will know what happened." He hung up. "I brought this," Toad said, handing Jake a large weapon. "The rifle Peterson gave us. I was wondering what we did with it." He checked the clip. "Four shots? Wonderful... I'm going to go change." 10:43 PM, Washington, D.C. It was late at the research facility, the only ones remaining were security and those working well past hours on experiments they couldn't wait on until morning. "Umm, sir, where's the pendant that General Peterson told us to keep here?" one of them asked. The other examined the storage case. "Odd..." 10:46 PM, Westchester They walked towards the hangar. "We have no idea what we're walking into, whether or not they're expecting us, sounds like fun," Jake said, sarcastically. "Another suicide mission?" Tobias asked. "No. I'll be damned if I'll watch any of you die!" The steps lowered, and the Blackbird was boarded. "Okay, I haven't flown this much, but I think I can handle it. Point it north, keep going until we hit the target. Definitely fly in under cloak," Jake said. "Strap yourselves in!" 11:48 PM, Canada The jet landed. They could see the building in the distance. "Big metal building, chain-link fence, few guards. Yeah, they're not waiting for us. As soon as we go down there, snipers will get us, no doubt," Jake said. "And we risk them killing their prisoners," Magneto added. "We'll need to be quick. But not subtle, let them know someone is here, draw them to us." They headed for the fence. "Time to let them know we're here," Tobias said, concentrating. The field around the facility burst into flames. Magneto ripped the fence free from the ground, tearing it in the air, sending the shredded wires after the guards. Jake fired random bursts, confusing the guards who remained. They reached the door. Jake blasted it, sending the large metal plate backwards. "That was easy. Now, Sabretooth, you take Toad and Artemis, find another way in. We'll head in from here," Jake ordered. Sabretooth ran off. Magneto pulled steel plates from the walls, using them as shields against the gunfire they were up against. Jake's suit deflected the occasional stray shot. He blasted a security door. "Gambit!" Gambit was secured to the wall. Magneto ripped the restraints free. "Hey, man, you with it?" Tobias asked. "I'm feelin' better now". Tobias removed a pack of cards from his jacket. "Thought you might want these." Gambit was weak, but he could walk on his own. He joined the others. Guards fell easily. However, the large metal tentacles made short work of the steel plates floating before them. "Octavius?" Magneto asked. "No," came the reply. The form pushed past the guards, barring their way. "Omega Red..." Jake muttered. "Go. I'll deal with him." Magneto said, "But you-" "JUST GO!" The three ran, leaving Jake to fight the monster. The rear of the building had offered even less resistance. "Well, never thought I'd be savin' yer butt, runt!" Sabretooth pulled the restraints from the wall. "It's a trap.... Omega..." he tried to say. Artemis focused on the restraints holding Cyclops to the wall, finally pulling them free. "Here, found it at the mansion." Artemis placed the ruby sunglasses over Scott's eyes. "Guards came out of nowhere, some sort of... sonic wave. Knocked us out. It was... Omega..." "What's this omega they keep talkin' 'bout?" Artemis asked. "It's Omega Red!" Wolverine shouted. Toad studied the body armor the guards were wearing. "I thought they looked familiar," he said, handing Sabretooth a chest plate. The word OMNITECH was carved into it. "Then lets go find Omega Red, and the rest of these little snots and tear 'em all to pieces!" Sabretooth shouted. Magneto tore the door down. Storm, Jean, and Rogue were in the same condition they'd found Gambit in. He ripped the steel bands free. The three women were too weak to move. "Some kinda sonic wave..." Rogue said. "Where are the others?" Magneto asked. "I do not know," Storm replied. "We need to find them. Jake's fighting Omega Red, and-" "NO!" Jean shouted. "He'll be killed!" "The tin squid helped them take us!" Rogue said. "He told us to go on, find you..." Magneto said. They could hear another door being knocked down nearby. "Holy shit! Beast!" Tobias shouted. "Yes. It would appear whatever they did to knock us out has worn off, and my restraints were easily undone. Now, where are the others?" "Right here," Wolverine said. 12:01 AM Jake dodged the carbonadium tentacles. He'd been unable to do anything else since engaging the creature. "You were a fool to defy us, and now, I shall kill all of you!" "Oh, shut it!" Jake said, swinging a left hook which knocked Omega Red back. Jake blasted him repeatedly. He kept punching, kept blasting. Omega Red was becoming dazed. Jake began backhanding him after each punch, the adamantium hand stronger than the carbonadium in Omega Red's body. A tentacle swung for him. He dodged, sending his fingers straight for it. They went through the carbonadium coil, pinning it to the wall. Pulling his hand free, the damaged end fell to the ground. Omega Red screamed in pain. "NO! My carbonadium coils, how could you?" Wolverine jumped him, digging his claws into the body armor. "Where's Xavier?" "I'll kill you all!" Omega Red replied. Magneto noticed the nearby door. He forced it open. Inside, they found Xavier and Nightcrawler. "Kurt!" Cyclops shouted. "I've had enough of this. Wolverine, move!" Magneto ordered. He tore the ceiling down. Omega Red dodged the debris, knocking the nearest wall down. Outside, helicopters hovered in the air, fighter jets circled, and ground troops faced the building. General Peterson stood before them. "Omega Red. Surrender immediately, you have no hope of getting past us!" Wolverine jumped him, stabbing his claws directly into Omega Red's back. The creature fell to the ground. General Peterson ran to the facility. "Just as well, I didn't expect him to actually listen to me. we'd better get out of here before the Canadian government starts asking questions." They began leaving. Xavier grabbed his head, screaming. "The pain! Intense pain of thousands! I can hear them!" he shouted. "Professor, what's wrong?" Scott asked. Jake stood in front of a doorway. "You guys might want to see this..." The television in the guard's recreation room had been left on. The program had been interrupted for live news coverage. Manhattan, once again filled with a cloud of debris. "Dear God, they hit us again..." General Peterson said. "No, no... we stopped Omnitech, they can't do this!" Magneto shouted. The smoke began to clear. A live camera on the ground focused in. In the cloud of debris and the dead, a form became visible. Peterson said, "They didn't do this... he did." The dust had parted. Carnage stood atop the damage, laughing. 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.