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Issue Eight
By Barry Reese
ST. LOUIS, MO
It was a full moon, illuminating the city below. Atop a skyscraper, a sight quite unfamiliar to this city's residents was silhouetted against the moon -- a man, dressed in a garb designed to strike fear into the hearts of criminals.
The Dark Knight had come west from Gotham, a mystery occupying his heart and mind.
The Batman stared briefly at the Arch in the distance, acknowledging its beauty but not allowing himself the luxery of enjoying the moment. He had come here in hopes of uncovering the truth about Halo's recent alterations, truths which his teammate Katana seemed determined to keep hidden.
Through a bit of detection, he had pinpointed the last time that Halo had been seen in the body of Marissa Barron -- approximately three months before the reformation of the Outsiders. Gabrielle and Tatsu had been sighted together in battle with the Marine Marauder -- sometime after that, however, Gabrielle's form had changed, reverting back to the appearance she'd had when she'd inhabited the body of Violet Harper. It's always been too easy to forget that Halo isn't truly human -- she's an alien being called an Aurakle, given human form. Changing bodies isn't that difficult for her -- but how and why did she end up looking like Violet again? If it was some new ability of hers, to shapeshift her appearance, she and Tatsu wouldn't be so secretive about it... Of course, if my suspicions are correct, Halo doesn't have many memories of what happened herself.
Batman thought again about the chain of events that had led him here from Gotham -- the name that had popped up on his search through police records, the young girl who had been bailed out of jail after causing a public disturbance... and the description of the man who had bailed her out, as well.
Movement below caught his eye and he leaned forward to watch as two people stepped out of a bus station, bags in hand. Batman raised a small device to his right eye, augmenting his vision until he could see them better. Each of them held bus tickets in their free hand, but the most important thing was that he was now able to identify them. The male was young, dark-haired and sported sunglasses, even at night. His female companion was a petite brunette, with short, spiky hair and a worried expression. The Dark Knight's lips moved only slightly as he murmured, "Faust... and Marissa Barron. Intriguing."
DC LEGENDS PRESENTS
Part Four
"Dark Tidings"
LOS ANGELES
"My entire existence has been one of tragedy and despair, Lia. Time and again I've sought an escape from my eternal torment, only to find myself resurrected each time. But there is one hope for me... one hope for all of humanity... to be free of this vampiric plague." Andrew Bennett sat in the darkened nightclub, not paying any attention to the pounding rock music or the appreciative glances of the club's female patrons. His eyes were downcast, reflecting a thousand lost loves and more heartache than any one man should be forced to bear.
Lia Briggs, the beautiful and alluring Looker, sat back in the booth and regarded him with more than passing interest. Since "rescuing" her from Dr. Moon, he'd been remarkably evasive about himself and his motives. Now, at last, he seemed to be willing to open up. "How did you become a vampire?"
"400 years ago I was a minor nobleman... My life was one of luxery and comfort, until the night a vampire came upon me and changed my existence forever. I swore never to feed upon humans, instead preying upon animals until bottled blood became easier to find. Only once did I ever make another vampire... and I spent centuries regretting it."
"What happened?"
"My... love... Mary.... she grew enamored of her new power, her new ability to derive immortality from the blood of innocents. She founded the Cult of the Blood Red Moon, an organization that I swore to destroy. Eventually I slew her and thought my own curse at an end, as well. But Fate has a sense of humor, it seems."
Lia could only agree with that sentiment. Her own love life had possessed its share of ups and downs, with sometimes dramatic results. "I'm sorry. But that doesn't explain anything about the prophecy or why you think I can somehow destroy every vampire in the world...."
Andrew's expression changed to one of genuine excitement and for the first time since she'd met him, Lia could sense his mood lighten. "Ah... The prophecy. After my last resurrection, I dedicated myself to studying texts from throughout the world -- somewhere within one of them, I bargained, would be the key to finally ending my torturous existence. In a small library just outside Cairo, I finally found it. The prophecy told of the coming of "a flame-haired queen of blood" who would "join with the newly risen destroyer." Their union, according to the prophecy, would unleash a flood of eldritch energy throughout the world, "ending the pseudo-life of the blood-takers.""
Lia tapped her fingers on the table impatiently. Her full lips moved into a pout. "That sounds pretty flimsy, Andrew. How do you know I'm the flame-haired queen of blood? There must be other redheaded vamps out there. And who the heck is the destroyer? And what kind of union are we talking about? Sexual?"
"I'm not certain. I suspect it would be more of a spiritual union. As for how I know you're the queen of blood and who the detroyer truly is... I utilized the services of a mystic of some repute who led me to both you and the destroyer. Her name is Xanadu."
"Doesn't ring a bell."
"It's not important. What is important is that she led me to you... and she also told me that the destroyer is to awaken here in Los Angeles."
"And this is a good thing? I doubt he's called the destroyer without reason."
"He's called the Destroyer because his coming will herald the end of all vampires. I told you that." Andrew's eyes flashed with anger, making Lia flinch. This man was a zealot, that much was obvious.
Better be careful with this one, Lia mused. Don't let your guard down just because he's got that incredible charisma, girl. "Okaaaay. So... Where's the destroyer?"
Bennett's eyes darkened for a moment as he pointed towards the crowded dance floor. There, in the midst of the gyrating bodies and flamboyant clothing, was a man unlike any that Lia had ever seen before. He was tall, almost seven feet in height, and dressed in long gray robes that hid all but his hands and face. His features were classically Roman, with a distinctive nose and a noble bearing. The man was obviously staring at her with the same intensity that she now felt for him. It was like a longing she had never known she possessed was now finding its focal point.
Andrew's voice seemed to come to her ears from very far away. "There. That man is the destroyer. He has come because he can sense you, Lia. The time for Union has come."
ST. LOUIS, MO
Faust stepped into the darkened motel room, a bottle of booze clutched tightly in one hand. It was near midnight now, the so-called witching hour, and he felt the buzz in the air clearly enough. Being the son of longtime JLA foe Felix Faust made one pretty attuned to such things -- there was magic in the air tonight, dangerous and wild.
His fingers flicked at the light switch, noting with some dismay that the room didn't illuminate as he'd expected. He tried again... and felt a lurch in his stomach. Something was in the room....
His first thought was of Marissa, but he'd just come from her room across the hall. She was sound asleep, her dreams troubled and unsure. "Who's there?" Faust spoke the words with a menacing undertone, following them with a barely whispered incantation. "Felum illuminatus."
A mystic flame appeared in the center of the room, sending light and shadows dancing.
In the rear of the room, a shadow seemed to grow and shimmer into the image of a life-sized bat. "What are you up to, Faust? Answer me quick and this can be a painless experience for you."
"Is that a threat?"
"Obviously," the Dark Knight murmured.
Faust pushed aside the feelings of rage that he felt. After all, he'd known this day would come eventually... he just hadn't figured it would be so soon. "How did you find me?"
"I'm not the one answering questions. What happened with Halo?"
Faust stepped into the room, shutting the door behind him. He set his bottle down on the table and shrugged. "Why don't you ask her?" The expression on Batman's face froze Faust in his tracks. "Okay, okay. No more games. You've seen the woman across the hall? That's Marissa Barron, the woman whose body Halo inhabited for awhile."
"I thought Ms. Barron was dead."
"That would have been the most convenient thing, wouldn't it? A few months after Halo moved into Marissa's body, a chick calling herself Spectra showed up -- using the Violet Harper body. It was Marissa."
The Batman digested this information before speaking again. "I take it then that Marissa wasn't dead when the Aurakle fled Violet Harper's body...."
"Right. We thought that Violet's body and Marissa's were both dead and that the Aurakle made the switch with a little bit of my help... but actually the two of them switched bodies."
"Understood. But what happened after that?"
"That's where it gets a bit fuzzy." Faust paused, opening the bottle and drinking from its tip. He made a face and grunted. "A few months ago, Tatsu began to notice some changes in Halo's behavior... differences in musical tastes, clothing, everything. She got a bit worried, especially when she noticed that Halo had begun associating herself more and more with Marissa."
The Dark Knight remained silent, though his mind worked at a quick pace. Tatsu would have sensed any such changes easily, given how close she was to Gabrielle. He pondered briefly why she hadn't come to him with this problem, or at least gone to the other Outsiders. But in the end, he knew why: she had always been fiercely protective of Gaby and she worried that Batman and the others might expect Halo to vacate this body... a body that belonged, rightfully, to someone else. And where would that leave Halo -- a bodiless spirit with no shell?
In the end, there would only be one Outsider whose morals were gray enough to possibly go along with a scheme that could result in the spiritual theft of a body: Faust. "She asked you to confirm her suspicions... that Halo's personality was merging with that of Marissa?"
"You got it. I came to L.A. and did the deed."
"And?"
"And she was right. Somehow, Marissa's personality was back in there and was reasserting itself slowly, taking back what was hers. I have no idea what happened with Spectra -- for all I know, this was some remnant that was left behind and Spectra's still out there somewhere... or maybe Spectra found somebody with the magic to put her back in her body, in the hopes of taking it from the aurakle." Faust let out a long, weary sigh. "Ordinarily, the aurakle would have been strong enough to resist, but Marissa was on her home turf, so to speak. It wasn't that different from what happened with Violet Harper, when she tried to retake her own body." Faust watched silently as Batman moved towards the wall and restored power to the room. The lights came back on, drawing a curse from the mage, who squinted in the sudden glare. He dissipated the mystic flame and continued. "I told her I'd do the best I could to save them both, but I figured in the end it would be one or the other... and that's what happened."
"You were able to separate their spirits. I didn't know you had that kind of power."
"I'm full of surprises." Faust looked down to the floor, his shoulders drooping. "But it's hard work... It's almost like mystic surgery and it didn't go off without a hitch. I was hoping to convince Marissa that her time on this plane was done, that she should have died that first day when Sanction nearly killed her. But she was too damn strong and... Halo didn't want to take Marissa's life away from her. At the end, she stood up to both Tatsu and me, saying that living wasn't so important to her that she'd want to kill in order to possess it. She vacated Marissa's body, leaving Marissa with hardly any memories of anything since her death -- Hell, not much from before, either. She doesn't even remember the fact that she tried to kill all of us during that whole thing with Sanction or that she was ever Spectra, assuming she was -- which is a good thing, I guess. I've been keeping her with me since they were separated. She's so lost and... Well, I feel a bit responsible."
"Understandable. This still leaves the question of what happened with Halo? How did she end up in a form that so closely matches Violet Harper?"
Faust smiled somewhat. "I figured a detective like you would have figured that part out. She looks like Violet Harper because that's what she wants to look like. I added a little bit of mystic boost to her own power, but she's the one who shaped her current body out of pure aurakle energy. She's not human anymore, Bats, not that she ever really was. She's an aurakle who's literally built herself a body."
"And her personality? Why the reversal to her old naivate?"
"Who knows? Maybe the psychic damage went both ways... maybe she really doesn't remember much of what happened. Or maybe she feels so guilty over having stolen someone's life that she wants to go back to a simpler time. Like I said -- Who knows?"
Batman pursed his lips, thinking out loud. "And Katana is afraid of harming Gaby somehow, so she doesn't bring up the subject and doesn't want anyone else to, either. This also explains Tatsu's seeming guilt... If what you're saying is true, she's partially responsible not only for attempting to kill Marissa Barron once and for all, but she's also to blame for Ms. Barron's current state."
"So what are you going to do, Bats? Kick Katana off the team? Put her on trial for being an accessory to aggravated exorcism?"
Batman ignored the cynicism in Faust's voice and turned to the window behind him. "I left a card on your nightstand. The number on it will contact you with a Mr. Lucius Fox, of Wayne Enterprises. He might be able to arrange for some help for Ms. Barron."
Faust stood. "What about Katana? I can tell you this... She feels terrible about what happened, but she was doing what she felt she had to -- to save her child."
"I'll keep that in mind, Faust."
The mage sighed and looked away. "Damn. I feel horrible. Marissa's a great girl, but I was trying to save my friend, you know?"
Faust looked up, expecting to see Batman's disapproving stare. Instead, he saw only the softly fluttering curtains and an open window.
LOS ANGELES
"I have worn many names, Lia. But the one I have worn most often is Pieter." The Destroyer's voice was soft and smooth, with a thick Roman accent that sent chills down Lia's spine. For a woman who spent the past several years of her life teasing men, this was a novel experience... she felt giddy with desire.
She stood in a posh hotel room, with the Destroyer and Andrew Bennett. They had come here in silence after leaving the club, each lost in their own thoughts. The Destroyer was enigmatic with most of his statements but the look in his eyes spoke of victories won and spoils to be taken. "Andrew says that you'll rid the world of all vampires....?" Her voice was husky with emotion, the presence and scent of the man before her making her feel like a school girl.
Pieter nodded. "So they say. But it won't be alone... It will be you and I, together. The day of the Vampire has passed... it is time for evolution."
Ordinarily, Lia would have wondered at his words, but for now she only felt a strongly growing ache in her spirit... and her body. She nodded dumbly, while Bennett watched on in hopeful silence.
The Destroyer's smile grew wider. "Come to me, my sweet." He held out a hand to her and Lia took it eagerly. In a rush, she was in his arms, her mouth opening to meet his. Their tongues touched and the pounding of their hearts was matched by the sudden crack of thunder in the skies outside.
Lia's teeth raked across Pieter's tongue, drawing inhuman blood. The thick pinkish-white fluid rushed down her throat in a rising tide of desire. The Destroyer laughed softly. It had been so long since he'd walked the Earth but now the time was right, as promised in the stars above... the time for his kind to ascend the power, as it had been foretold in the eons-old pact between Vampires and his own kind, the Nar'stil.
Their bodies moved together as light swarmed about them. Bennett stumbled back, feeling the sudden release of energy in the room. He could no longer see Lia or the Destroyer, but he knew what was about to occur -- the end of his long, tortured existence was near and he would see the death of the vampire plague at long last. The world would be free. He would be free.
The tide of energy washed over Andrew Bennett, invisible to the human eye but appearing like a ball of flame to the vampire. It burned his flesh, reducing him to ash and bone in an instant before continuing out from the hotel room. It circled the globe, eradicating all those whose blood burned with vampiric nature.
One after another, they died their true death. One after another, the tide of evolution washed over planet Earth, eradicating those who had held power for millenia.
And in the depths of the African jungle, other beings awoke.
Beings who had held dominion over all until their war with the undead had threatened to destroy them. The Nar'stil.
The Destroyer pulled back from Lia Briggs, holding her smoldering skull in his hands. His lips were parted in a leer, a snake-like tongue flickering out to brush against Lia's teeth. Dust poured forth from her skull as he tilted it back.
"Union has come. The day of vampyre is past."
And halfway across the world, in the European nation of Markovia, the men and women of the Outsiders felt a sudden chill at the passing of their friend. Though none of them knew it at the time, first blood had been taken in a growing war that would threaten to annihilate all they held dear.
Next Issue: The Brave & the Bold series continues, with a new feature! As for the Outsiders, keep your eyes peeled for future projects!
AUTHOR'S NOTES
Here are some comments from Travis Hiltz:
I'm still having fun.
liked the new Masters of Disaster Line up. I also like how you have the core Outsiders, then all these other heroes working on the edges of the story. Gives the book a nice ensemble feel.
About Halo: I still go back and forth about her change, but I do like how if you 'fix' something you put some thought and effort into it. So many writers ( the ones that actually get paid to write about Super heroes) get lazy and just change things, and can't be bothered to have it make sense.
I'd forgotten about Katanna's famous 'lungs in a bucket' catchphrase. Also like how she is the least powerful member, but also the one that scares the hell out of everybody.
Glad you enjoyed the MoD appearance last ish, Travis. They've always been one of my favorite groups -- maybe down the road, we'll see New Wave and Shakedown reunited with Heatsnap.
As for Halo, hopefully this issue answered your questions -- as to whether or not that's a good thing, you'll have to let me know. The entire Tatsu/Marissa/Gaby/Faust storyline is something that I would like to pursue further in the future, as I think it raises some very important and disturbing dilemmas.
As for the Destroyer, rest assured that he will return. I've been planning a crossover between all the "Barryverse Titles" (arrogantly named, I suppose -- but screw you, I write 'em) for awhile now. Look for the Destroyer to pop up in one of my DCL books again very, very soon. For those of you who are upset about Looker's fate... Well, she was a vampire, so maybe there's some hope of a resurrection? It probably won't be done by me, however.
There was a lot of exposition here, I know -- but I didn't feel that the material really needed a bunch of guys and gals in spandex hitting one another in order to be interesting. Hope you agree.
This wraps up the Outsiders' stint in The Brave & the Bold. If you liked what you saw and want to see more of it, let me and DCL's head honcho, Tim Hartin, know. Maybe there's a series or two waiting to happen.
Until then, thanks for reading.