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Here
DARK GENESIS
“Crazy”
By Mick Edwards
N Block, formerly New Orleans…
The Big Easy, the city that care forgot, the crescent city. All of these used to describe the major port city located on the southeastern side of Louisiana. Where once was a city full of gumbo, voodoo rituals, fine cuisine, and its multicultural heritage, now laid a dark and withered husk.
This entire city has only known poverty, pain, and injustice since the shift into the new Darkseid ruled reality. An example of pain would be how the slaves were whipped savagely if they stopped for even a minute from their daily tasks.
For each day they were to perform work that was suited for heavy machinery and the only tools they were allowed to use were primitive pulley and lever systems. If they didn’t perform their tasks … they ended up like the piles of dead bodies that were placed in the southern canals.
The slave pen was a one of the converted northern canals that had been drained dry and slightly reconfigured to place prisoners. The only touches done to the canal was the tripwire system that alerted them to prisoners who attempted to escape.
In the center of the block laid an installation that Desaad wanted to use to create new and more grueling torture devices to make use of his time since the great Darkseid now spent most of his time with Death.
Life was harder and harsh. Even death was preferably to this nightmare that they lived in. Yet, one person persistently continued on. Because deep down he felt that something was not quite right about the world.
He couldn’t describe it exactly. He only felt that the way things were now were not the way they were supposed to be. The world was supposed to be better then this is what he believed in his heart.
This persistent and hopeful man’s name is Charley Parker. A simple slave, who day in and day out struggled to help his fellows in hopes that his good will would inspire them to continue on. However, his efforts only earned him scorn for they believed he was trying to con them out of what little perishables they had.
But that was not his intention. No, he merely wanted to give them hope until the horrible wrong that happened to this world could be put right. Each day he did what he felt was needed to inspire people.
He would tend to the sick and needy. He would work double and sometimes triple shifts so that others would regain their strength. As time passed on though people began to see him as a gullible oaf and so began a series of deceitful ruses that pushed his body, mind, and spirit to the brink.
His own people would take turns faking an illness or a severe pain so he would pick up their slack. Being too good hearted he couldn’t turn any of them down. And each night he wore himself out past exhaustion.
That was until Desaad discovered what was going on with his all seeing eyes. Miniature orbs that recorded everything they saw and played back for the wicked torturer.
“Bring me this man and have him placed in the cell below till I’m ready to see him,” Desaad said.
His assistant nodded and fetched two parademons who grunted their response.
The Slave Pen…
The parademons walked up to the slave pen and urged to guard to open the cell. The guard unlocked the door and they strutted in and towards Charley who was extremely exhausted. The people inside of the slave pen backed away as they picked him and carted him out.
“The oaf must have angered the mighty Desaad,” one of the slave women said.
“If he has then he is surely dead,” an elderly slave replied.
Desaad’s Sanctum…
Desaad walked down to where Charley was being contained with a smirk on his face. He motioned of the guard to open the door and he walked in with two parademons in front of him and his assistant next to him.
“So, you have been performing the work for others have you? Well, they will share your punishment,” Desaad said as turned to one of his assistants to relay his order.
“n-N-no…let me bare the punishment alone,” Charley pleaded.
Desaad smiled with a sense of wicked satisfaction.
“Very well bring him,” Desaad said.
The parademons grunted and picked him up and dragged him along into Desaad’s sanctum. Where he did most of his horrific tortures of any one he could afford. Most of them died of course, but Desaad didn’t care either way.
His need for the sounds of people screaming as he did terrible things to them outweighed any of the slaves importance. And anyways his master could always replace them with slaves from other worlds.
What did concern him was testing his new torture device on Charley. Yes, that brought a smile to his face and he was sure lord Darkseid may have use of it if the time came.
Desaad motioned for the parademons to place him upon a black chair which had a projector on all four corners of it. The projectors emitted a blue light that burned at the touch. As the parademons lowered Charley, he felt the heat singe the hair on his arms and something inside of him snapped.
He pulled his legs back and kicked the parademon who held his legs away and then tossed the two that were holding his arms onto that parademon. They squealed as they tried to get their feet.
Charley raced around the table and forcibly turned one of the projectors on the parademons killing them instantly. He then turned to Desaad with a look of pure, unbridled hatred.
He walked towards Desaad closing the gap on the diminutive villain. When Desaad’s back pressed against the far corner of the wall that he backed into he groveled before Charley with a pleading look on his face.
“N-no…please…I will do anything,” Desaad said.
He closed his eyes and heard a crack that he surely thought was his body being broken in half. Yet, upon opening his eyes Charley was gone and the wall behind him was smashed open.
“Guards!” Desaad cried.
Faster and faster Charley ran as he left the installation that was home to Desaad. He raced to where a transport was arriving and threw off the crew as it took to the air again.
He knew his only chance was to get as far away as possible, but where was he to run? There was no place that was safe from the rule of Darkseid. Already he could hear the engines of the apokolation tracker ships bearing down on him.
He forcibly veered the transport out of their line of fire and into the last standing forest in the entire world. There he had hoped to hide though he knew they would light the entire forest on fire to kill him.
As he coasted along the rough and rocky terrain, the transport he used to escape slammed into something and he was sent flying off of it and into the dirt.
He laid there for a few moments before picking himself up and dusting himself off. He looked back to the transport and found it demolished. Whatever he had slammed into had wrecked it utterly.
“Damn,” Charley muttered.
A glint of light shown from the big mound of dirt that the transport had crashed into and Charley walked over to it. Using a log he propped the wreckage of the transport so he could look at what it was.
It was gold chest with a hawk head center piece with symbols that arched around the hawk head. Charley didn’t recognize the symbols at all. They looked so strange. Like the hieroglyphs that he had seen while being brought into Desaad’s sanctum.
He pressed a hand to the center piece and it retracted and opened revealing a pair of wings, an armor plated mask that resembled a hawk head, and a pair of gloves with sharp talons.
Was this a divine calling he wondered? Or perhaps this was a gift from some benevolent gods to help strike back at the evil that had for so long driven his people to their knees.
He slipped the wings on first making sure they slid over his shoulders. Then he slipped on the gloves which conformed to shape of his hands. Lastly was the hawk mask which completed his change.
The sound of Darkseids hounds could be heard approaching and Charley rummaged through the remains of the transport finding only a pick axe and some rope. He then scaled the nearest tree and hid among the thick patch of leaves and branches.
There he waited patiently for them to come. The gigantic dogs slowly stalked by and started to sniff around. Guiding them was a pair of parademons.
Once the parademons got with in range, Charley dropped down from the tree and slammed the pick axe into the one below him. Blood gushed out from the parademon’s back as it headed towards a tree.
Charley ripped the pick axe out from the parademon’s collapsed lung and leapt from the dying parademon’s back and onto the back of the other parademon. This parademon tried to throw him off with some aerodynamic moves, but Charley held on and began to wail on the second parademon with the pick axe.
His rapid attacks punctured flight pack of the parademon causing to emit an electric shock which, surged up the tip of the wings that Charley wore and he suddenly found himself flying away from the falling parademon and the hounds.
His ascent took him far above the trees where he could see everything. And after a few attempts he managed to gain control of his flight so that he arched from his ascent and passed by the trees at a comfortable, yet exhilarating speed.
“So, this is one of the many gifts denied us,” Charley thought to himself as he flew along the path of the forest.
He flew on for a while and came to a stop just before reaching the N block. He knew he would need a plan if he was to free his fellow captives, but then… where could he take them that would be safe from the wrath of Darkseid?
Inside the Installation…
As Charley contemplated his next move, Desaad received a chewing out by the master of all he surveys.
“And this…worm escaped your clutches and killed some parademons?” Darkseid asked.
“Y-yes, oh great Darkseid,” Desaad replied.
“How is this important to me?” Darkseid asked with a subtle red fire emanating from his eyes.
“I-I h-he well that is to say,” Desaad stammered.
“He is nothing more then a human, Desaad, and I will not waste the time of my elite guard on a mere human. However, the fact that he has eluded your forces and managed to make a fool of you proves that you are far too incompetent to capture him,” Darkseid said.
“But my lord Darkseid,” Desaad said.
“Silence, Desaad!” Darkseid roared, “Your sniveling is pathetic. I want you to dispose of the slaves and leave N block as nothing more then a crater.”
“And what of this renegade slave?” Desaad asked.
Darkseid chuckled, “If he isn’t killed by the destruction of N block then he will be when Kento’s apprentice arrives.”
Desaad smiled, “Yes, lord Darkseid.”
The monitor flicked off and Desaad turned to his assistant giving him the order to destroy N block and evacuate the troops.
Outside…
Charley watched the parademons gather the slaves and place them back into the slave pen while Desaad climbed aboard his ship along with his assistant and crew. A group of parademons attached a large device to the center of town and Charley was puzzled as to what it was.
The lens started bringing up a read out of what the device was, but Charley couldn’t read it as he never learned to read. Whatever it was he had the feeling it wasn’t good. So he decided to make with his attack.
He tied a noose with the rope and flew down to where the parademons were retreating into the shape. Spinning the noose over his head he waited until he flew close enough then slung the noose over the parademon’s neck and flew upwards.
The other parademons flew after him at Desaad’s order and Desaad’s ship boom tubed out of the area.
“How does it feel to be my victim apokoliptian trash?” Charley asked the parademon before pulling tight on the noose and strangling it to death.
Once he let go, the other parademons closed in on him and he flew at them roaring with the pick axe in hand.
The first two parademons he collided with had their skulls split in half by the pick axe and the claws that extended from the gloves Charley wore. The next three that charged at him he deftly evaded and came up behind them. So that he could use his claws and pick axe to tear them open.
Charley took a breather to collect himself when heard a…
BOOM
A woman dressed in all black with angular blade hovered before Charley. She had blonde hair and sea blue eyes to match her trim form. Round disks that were clamped onto her feet kept her aloft.
“Who are you?” Charley asked.
“I? I am Flamebird, your executioner,” Flamebird replied.
Her angular blade caught fire and she charged towards Charley faster then he could react. The next thing he knew he was spiraling out of control towards the ground with one of his wings damaged.
“Damn it, I have get control of my descent or I will surely die,” Charley thought to himself
He struggled to right himself with the damaged wing till finally he started to ascend. He directed himself towards Flamebird and bared his claws. When the two’s weapons met there was massive clang.
Flamebird drew her sword back and evaded the swipe that Charley attempted to make. She made a swipe of her own that grazed Charley’s back and he howled in pain.
“How did that feel?” Flamebird asked.
“Rargh!” Charley roared as he swiped at her and clipped her shoulder.
“You miserable beast,” Flamebird said.
She started towards him, but he tackled her and they both came crashing down towards the center of the N-block and through the roof of the installation. After a few moments both of them slowly got up.
Unknown to them the timer of the bomb ticked down from 10…9…8…7…
Charley climbed to his feet.
6…5…4…
He charged at the stunned Flamebird and knocked her backwards.
3…2…1…0….
The bomb exploded and its detonation created a whiting effect that blinded all that saw it. The slaves screamed in terror as their flesh and muscles were burned off of their bones. Their muffled cries echoed for the span of a mile in all directions and when it was over there was nothing left except the charred remains of the installation.
Desaad chuckled to himself from his safe position aboard his ship. He then switched the monitor to the bride of the ship to alter their course.
“Make a course towards the moon. I have some left over experiments to finish,” Desaad said to the navigator.
“Yes, sir,” the navigator replied.
As we look back to the installation for the final time we see the mask that Charley wore rested on its side with both lens cracked.
The End…
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