BLACK WINGS Funeral For An X-Man by Justin Anderson The gateway opened in the air above the floor of the massive throne room. He fell to the ground, his life all but gone. He was quickly losing consciousness, but held on. The sun poured in between the columns supporting the roof. 'The sun rise over Genosha... I am home. Now, I can be at peace...' His eyes closed for the final time. Wednesday, December 17th, 2003. Genosha, 7:01 AM Magneto opened the large doors, followed by his servants. "I wish to contact Xavier today, make sure you can- what is that?" He headed towards the body, quickening his pace. "Jacob? Jacob, wake up!" Magneto stooped, trying to wake the mutant. "JACOB! Someone notify the infirmary!" Friday, December 19th. Westchester, 1:02 PM The hills around Xavier Manor were quiet. On a small area near the lake, Jacob Arden lay in a closed casket, His former teammates were lined up. Those not in tears kept a silent vigil. The former Brotherhood stood beside the casket. The X-Men gathered in a circle. General Peterson stood beside the Black Wings. "It is unfortunate Jacob's life had to end so shortly," Kurt said in his thick German accent, "but whatever led to this, his life was not wasted. Jacob was not religious, nor did he ever express an interest in God, but I do not believe God would have punished an individual such as him. Jacob would have given his life for any of us, and in the end, he was our friend. "He lived in fear, no fear that anyone should have to live through. He was a clone, but as full of life as any of us. To say that he did not have a soul is not accurate- he had as much soul as anyone. We do not understand why he has died, or even how, and we may never know. All we know is that his life here mattered. He is as important as any of us. Just as Piotr gave his life for us, Jacob died with dignity, loved even though his heart would not always allow us in. "His death is nothing we can change, but perhaps Jacob is now at peace. He was forced to live a lifetime in only a few short months on this Earth, a short time for anyone to live a lifetime." General Peterson unfolded a large flag. "I didn't feel it appropriate to cover him with an American flag. I had this made for him." It was black, centered with a blue circle, an X centered within. "An American flag would be inappropriate. He was an X-Man in life, he should be treated with such respect in death." The casket was lowered into the ground, slowly. 2:47 PM "Hank?" "... I detected signs of damage to his mechanical systems, but nothing else. I could have learned more from an autopsy... but that would not have been appropriate, I feel. The blood test showed no signs of poisons," Beast replied. "Very well," Xavier said. "You know the worst part about this?" Sabretooth asked. "It looked like he just gave up living... I've seen lots of dead people, but... that look on his face looks like he gave up his own life like it was money to be handed out. Why?" "As Kurt said, we may never know," Xavier replied. Sabretooth said, "Urr... I'd better go find Toad. He's not taking this too well. Maybe it was because Jake was the only one who ever treated Toad like a... human being. And Xavier, if we'd gone looking, he might still be alive. I'd be surprised if anyone listens to you after this!" Sabretooth left, smirking at Xavier. Artemis headed for the front door. "Julio?" "I quit, goddammit! You sat on your balding ass, you let him die. We wanted to look for our friend, he was practically our brother, and you said no. Fuck you, man, I don't even want you NEAR me, you ugly BITCH!" He ran out the door. Xavier was slightly stunned. Tobias was walking after him. "... I'm sorry. But I gotta go with him. I've known him longer, I have to... Storm, Scott, you guys take care of yourselves..." "Look's like Creed's right," Logan said. "We might stop listenin' to ya, Chuck!" "Logan, I know you are upset over the loss of a team member, but we have lost others." "Yeah? At least those didn't die because we ignored them out there. We're X-Men, we look out for each other. I'm going out..." General Peterson stood. "I'm sorry, but I should be going." "Thank you for bringing a battle suit to bury him in. We do not know what happened to his other one," Xavier said. Manhattan, 5:13 PM "WELL?" "I'm sorry, Cletus, I have no answers," Magneto said. "My plane will be here soon." "Yeah, you SIDDOWN! You do this to him?" "WHAT?" "You heard me," Cletus said. "Or am I just to believe he showed up in your throne room, no witnesses placing him on Genosha!" "You know he had the dimensional gateway, if anything, it proves he used it... or... I understand why you'd blame me, it does seem strange. No personal effects, not even the gateway." "You don't think someone on Genosha did this?" he asked. "No..." Magneto said it as if he wasn't sure. "... I will privately investigate. If someone in my country is trying to incite anti-human sentiment by killing mutants, they will be dealt with!" "You do that," Cletus said. "After that crap with Norman Osborn, I'm sick of dealing with these morons!" Vermont, 9:44 PM He knocked on the door. Jack answered. "Cletus?" "Yeah... Jake's dead. He was buried today." "I... I don't understand." Cletus turned. "You need the Muppets to spell it out for you?" he shouted. "No, but... why tell me?" He walked away. "Jake was right, you really don't give a damn about anyone but yourself!" "Hey, you get back here," Jack shouted. "Fine! Ever since you got married, you've been content to stay holed up here. Just like Shriek, I'm sure she loves you, she loves her free ticket out of the looney bin! Unlike you, I've earned what I have, and with Jake's memories of your lfie, it's no wonder he doesn't like you. Even when I worked with you you always seemed disinterested. At least when you were popping pills you would actually do something!" He climbed on his harley. "You stay here and leave the hero work to the heroes. I'm surprised Jake turned out so honorable with your DNA!" Saturday, December 20th. Manhattan, 1:11 PM Cletus sat at the bar, smoking heavily. "Clete, what's the matter? It's the middle of the day and you're drinking like it's last call, what's going on?" "Not much, Mikey," he replied. "Hey, hand me your phone." "This a local call, Clete?" Cletus slapped a twenty on the bar. "No." the bartender fetched the phone. An old model rotary phone. He flipped out his notebook, thumbing through the numbers. "Anita? Yes, this is Cletus Kasady. I need you to schedule a meeting with Hunter for me. I got a lot of crazy crap he'd love to hear..." Monday, December 22nd. Washington, D.C., 8:12 AM Cletus packed the remaining objects into his bike pouches. securing a side holster, he packed the M-79 grenade launcher. "I take it you're not sticking around?" General Peterson asked. "No. This year's been too fuckin' weird. I'm hitting the road, vigilante style." "It's amazing how the death of one person can affect so many people, but I saw it. The X-Men lost a member, and a friend, and no one knows why. While so many bad people survive, so many good people die. I can't play the God game like Nightcrawler, I'm not buying it. Faith is one thing, fate is another. Faith is hanging onto an uncertainty, fate can be your choosing if you let it. "The past few months have been excessively strange. Norman Osborn's dead, but at the same time, Captain America failed us and the Hobgoblin showed us his heroic side all in the same five minutes. I have no idea what's going on anymore. "But I'm not hitting the road because there's something I need to find. I'll never find God out there. But I'm making this trip out of the strange idea that somehow, God may come to me, like it or not." 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.