Maximum Carnage
Issue 8 - "Patchwork"

by Justin Anderson


 

Monday, February 19th. 4:21 AM

 The bums hung out here. It was quiet and they weren't disturbed by those
above. It wasn't a complex location by any means. Just an afterthought to the
builders, long ago. Just a small area under the Brooklyn Bridge. But to these
few, it was a home. But tonight, home is where the hurt is.

 A man in a dark, stained gray coat walked up to a lone man standing beside
an old oil drum, with a fire burning for warmth. 

"Hey. Never seen you before, buddy!"

 The stranger didn't answer. He wasn't here for pleasantries. He only had
one thing on his mind right now. He slowly pulled the black glove off his right
hand. Reaching up, the twisted mess he had in place of fingers latched onto 
the man's face.... and crushed the front of his skull in. Slipping the black
glove back on, he bent down and took the ugly black fedora the man had been 
wearing. He thought about this. In his damaged mind, one thought came to him.

'You won't need this anymore, "buddy".....'

 Slipping it on his head, he took a rag from the ground and tied it around
his face. This man had been homeless, but someone would find the body. They
would soon be frightened that whoever did this would come after somebody
of a higher social status. And with his appearance, and society's remaining
intolerance for mutants, he would have to hide. Vengeance upon those who
ruined him would be soon. And it would be short. His memories were almost
gone, but he never forgot the faces of those who did this to him. So long
ago. How long, he couldn't remember. Time was lost to him. Days, weeks, years,
it blended together anymore. But not now. A few more of the local homeless
were coming out. He ran off into the darkness.


9:38 AM. Outside Jack's apartment building

 Cletus looked it over. It wasn't pretty, but in their situation, it would
do.

"Well? Come on, it really doesn't matter, it's all we have! Like it or
not, it's a car!"

Cletus knew Jack was right. It was an old car. A small silver hatchback,
with more scratches than Jack's kitchen table. 

"Hey, I know we need a car, Jack. But how do you expect to pay this off?"

Jack stepped out from the driver's seat.

"Pay off? Did that already. The guy took cash for the old heap of junk. With
a little, umm, 'extra' for himself, anyway"

Cletus rolled his eyes.

"How much, Jack?"

"Well, cost isn't really-"

"HOW MUCH?"

"Okay, okay. A thousand. Plus five hundred for the bribe!"

If Cletus could roll his eyes back further, he would have.

"Dammit, Jack! At this rate, we'll be broke within a month! And another thing,
I know you needed more shells, but...."

He pointed into the back seat.

"....did you really need fifteen boxes?"

Jack was about to bring up his reasons for spending like there was no tomorrow,
but he was interrupted by a voice from above.

"Hey, Jack. Get up here! There's somethin' on the news that's right up your
alley!"

It was Roger. Jack locked the doors to his new car and both men ran into
the building.

'...experts say the only force that could have crushed a man's skull in this 
manner would the the tentacles of an octopus latching onto someone's face.
Police believe the killer to be a mutant....'

Jack stared at the scene on the television. The only reason a dead bum would
attract this much coverage is if the media was afraid this killer might
go after someone else. Homeless people are killed all the time without
so much as an acknowledgement they existed. Cletus spoke up.

"Jack, you think we should check it out?"

Jack had just turned the small television set off. 

"Well, I guess it could be nothing. But I really doubt some guy in a dumb
suit calling himself 'Octopus Guy' did this. Whoever it was is probably
dangerous. You ever get locked up with anyone like this?"

"A few.....none with any kind of an octopus these though. Assuming that's
what it was. Maybe the guy was just really strong?"

Jack turned around.

"Roger, I know you watch a lot of television since you can't get out much.
If you see any more reports about this, let me know"

The old man looked up from his small chair.

"I'll do that. But what if this guy comes around here?"

Jack looked over at his partner.

"I doubt that will happen. But if it does, lock your door and hide"

Both men left the apartment. 

"Cletus, I'm going to park the car in the alley. No one should touch it
there. I'll need your help getting the ammo upstairs. I also bought several
bullets for the pistols. It looks like we may need them"


6:07 PM, Roger's apartment

 Jack watched the small set. The evening news was on, and the news was not
good. Another murder. This time, one man's face crushed, his wife clawed
to death, and their child had several bites taken out of him. Jack had
sent Roger out of the room. He didn't want the old man to know what had
happened to this family.

"Jack, I recognized that man's name and face from the report. He was....
one of the guards at Jacobs's building. He was one of the 2 that ran off
after I injected Jacobs with the infected drug"

"You don't think....no....Jacobs was dead. But, could he have had a backup
in case he was betrayed? Maybe one of the failed tests was loyal to him"

"I never heard anything about it, myself. But it could be a coincidence.
I mean, it's just this one man"

Jack turned the set off.

"I hope you're right. Otherwise, whatever this is....."

Cletus knew what he was thinking.


Wednesday, February 21st. 8:11 PM

 The news yesterday sealed it for both of them. Two more men who had worked 
for Jacobs were now dead. Their bodies had been mangled. Both men knew whatever
it was would come after them. This apartment building would serve as their final
stand against it, and they knew it would come. They deliberately left
notes around the city announcing who they were and where they lived. It wasn't
an obvious invitation, but enough for whoever this was to find them. They
had sent all the tenants away to family and friends. They may have to destroy
this building to stop whatever this was, and no innocent people were going to 
die in the process.

 Jack had given the landlord a couple stacks of bills in that event. He
hadn't counted it out, but knew it had to be more than what this place was 
worth. A few of the local street gang members Jack knew fairly well had
helped them soak this place in gasoline. The idea was to trap the thing
inside and torch it. At least, they doubted bullets would hurt it much. It
couldn't be human. They were pacing around inside the small apartment, waiting
for it to arrive. Jack had moved all the necessary stuff to his car, aside
from the immortality drug, which was in his coat pocket. The rest- furniture, 
food, useless junk- would go up in flames.

 Jack stopped as he heard footsteps below. His thoughts were jumbled. While
he wanted to kill this thing as soon as possible, he was secretly hoping
it was a tenant returning for something. No such luck. He turned around. At
the entrance to his apartment, a man in a stained trench coat stood.

"......you...."

Both men looked at this creature. By all outward appearances, it was human.
But the long coat, gloves, rag, and hat were enough to cover any mutations
underneath. Cletus raised his pistol, but Jack held him off from firing. The
creature slowly stepped into the apartment. He pulled off his right glove.
His hand was a mess of tentacles. Octopus tentacles replacing fingers. They
flailed around, the lack of bones keeping them from staying still.

"you'll....all....pay..."

He walked over to Jack. Before he could latch on, Jack delivered a swift
punch to the man's stomach, and another across his face, knocking his hat off.
His black hair, combined with patches of brown, could be seen. Jack bent down
and ripped the rag off his face. Both men stepped back.

"Jacobs!"

Cletus recognized the face immediately, despite the deformities. Patches
of brown fur, sharp, ugly teeth, one eye not matching the other. But he
knew the face. Jacobs immediately spoke up.

"No....Jacobs no longer......exists..... Patchwork.... my name is now.....
Patchwork....."

Jack looked down at the monster.

"You? But...how? I shot him numerous times, and you finished him off!"

Cletus looked over.

"The early batch I used must have been recent enough to give him the healing
abilities. The animal bloods I mixed in must have sped the mutations, and
the wounds made it work faster."

Jack remembered shooting his right hand off. It would explain the tentacles.

"Yes, you....two.....I want you to take.....a good, long.....look at.....
what you did.....to me...."

Jacobs ripped his coat open. His skin was divided into patches of green,
gray, and brown fur spots. Lizard, shark, and wolf. He pulled off his left
glove. His hand was an enlarged, humanoid wolf paw.

"And now..... I made you immortal.....I can take it away...... don't think
I won't.....find a way....."

 Before the creature could stand, Cletus fired a few shots. Black blood
poured from the wounds. Writhing in pain, Jacobs still stood. His hatred
was enough to keep him going. But he hadn't noticed Jack move behind him.
As he stood, a shotgun blast tore into his back. Jack used his chance
to grab Jacobs by the back of his coat and force him into the open closet.
Jack shut the door and locked it. He pulled out a pistol and fired a few 
shots through the door. The screams inside let him know he had hit his 
target. And, for good measure, he pushed his large living room chair in front
of the small door.

"He's not getting out of there. Trust me, I got locked in there once"

 Both men ran out of the apartment and down the stairs, through the back alley
door. Reaching the car, Jack entered the driver's seat, tossing his shotgun
in the back. Starting the car, he pulled out into the street. Stopping
in front of the building, Cletus gout out from the passenger's seat. He removed
a box of matches from his pants pocket, and lit one. He sat the remainder of 
the box in a small puddle of gasoline and threw the lit match in the box. 
Within seconds, a trail of flames moved down the main hall and up the walls.
Cletus got back to the car and Jack sped off.

 Reaching a good distance from the building, they watched as it went up. 
The seven story apartment building was no more. Nothing more than a final 
resting place for Aram Wilson Jacobs. No....Jacobs no longer existed. He was 
now a monster. His name, Patchwork. But he was no more. No more would suffer 
because of his insane desires.

 Both men got out of the car. They had stopped to watch the events unfold.
After all, not everyone saves the world from one man twice within a span
of only a few days. And even fewer can claim to have killed the exact same
man twice in the same time frame.

 Jack had turned away from the fire to watch one of the sets in the small
electronics store window they had stopped in front of. It was some sitcom.
Cletus ignored his laughter. But the sitcom would have to wait. It had
been interrupted by a special news report. Jack waved for Cletus to watch,
hoping it would be about the fire. It wasn't. It was even worse news.

'Earlier today, in Liverpool, England, one of the world's most dangerous
super villains attacked a museum. Reports indicate the symbiotic killer,
Carnage, was behind the destruction. Witnesses say the killer broke into
a museum and stole a large sword. The sword was called "The Sword of the
Evil Armies" by the museum curator. We go now...."

Both men looked at each other, not saying a word. They shared the same thought,
however.

'He's still alive. We didn't stop him, and now he's after something big....'


THE END



 
 

Notes: Basically set in the Marvel Universe, I will be using a lot of my
own continuity for this series, and generally focus on the main characters.
Appearances by Marvel's universe will be special occurences. Crossovers with
characters/titles from other companies will be treated as "single universe",
not as "2 universes crossing temporarily". I will also try to ignore major
Marvel comic story arcs. Cletus Kasady, Carnage, and other Marvel characters
are copyright Marvel Entertainment Group, Inc. Other characters are either
my creation(copyright myself), or copyright their specific owners if non-
Marvel licensed characters. 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.