The world has changed and sick and vile predators rule where once
freedom reigned. Amidst the darkness, a heretic named Holt has crafted
an identity to pursue these twisted villains
to make sure justice is served, but he is not alone as others fall
victim to the cesspool of filth that saturates every inch
of the world. To those who join him in his crusade to make a difference
they are Outsiders.
The
Outsiders
|
Sam
|
Cold
Cast
|
Grace
|
Indigo
|
The
Extremists
BOSTON BLOCK
The Harbor Zone:
Before…
Jason Blood smelled the stale scent of smoke that lingered in the air
as he walked the dark streets. All around him, people were cowering
away from his presence. It was the all too familiar garb of
Darkseid’s Inquisitors that struck fear into them, as well it
should. They all knew that when the Inquisitors came to town,
death was certain to follow. Jason had to chuckle as one peasant was so
frightened by his close presence that he soiled himself twice over.
Blood continued his trek to the port and the building where he was to
meet with the other Inquisitors of his pack: the Extremists.
Apparently, a foolish sect of humans was rebelling against the divinity
in the area and that would not be tolerated. The destruction they
caused was annoying to say the least, but the fact that they were
spreading like a virus was mildly alarming. Lord Darkseid wanted them
crushed before they upset the population with a false pretense of hope.
Of course, his majesty could have wished them out of existence, or sent
any of his Elite, but in truth they were beneath his notice, and the
Elite had more pressing concerns. That was why the Inquisitors had been
formed.
Jason Blood found the old and decrepit building that had been chosen
for their gathering. Gray and generic, it looked as any other
there on the mist-enshrouded docks. He entered the old warehouse, and
as Jason came into the room, he noticed a figure leaning against the
far wall. The female had a lit cigarette, and had it dangling in her
mouth as the burning tobacco smoke wafted in the air. Her eyes focused
on Blood as he kept moving towards her.
“Hello Blood,” the woman said.
“Evenin’ Tatsu, or is it still Katana you go by these
days?” Blood asked.
“Let us not waste time with words,” Katana replied.
“Very well then. What is it that our Lord requires this
time?” Blood asked, though he suspected.
“For us to eliminate the heretics,” Katana replied.
“It bloody figures,” Blood replied. “So, do we have
any Intel on them?”
“Nothing, aside from their name,” Katana said.
“Which is?” Blood asked.
“The Outsiders,” Katana replied.
“I see…” Blood said with a smirk.
“You’ve heard of them?” Katana asked curiously.
“Yes and no, though it’s been hard to keep track of
what’s truth and what’s fiction concerning them,”
Blood replied.
“Well, it won’t matter what is true about them once we are
finished,” Katana said as she crushed out her cigarette between
the fingers of her gloved hand.
RED BLOCK
Desolation Square:
Before…
Grace Choi walked deftly across the square with a package cradled in
her arms. Her eyes darted to and fro, as she made her way into a nearby
public house. Once inside, a tall black man turned to her then looked
at his customers before signaling for her to head into the back.
In the shadowy, smoke-filled back room, another black man waited. He
glanced up as she approached and Grace saw the scars across his face
and the blonde haired woman clutching his arm. A bell sounded in the
room beyond; Last Call.
“Did you get it?” he asked without preamble.
“Yeah, I got it. And all it cost was an arm and a leg.”
Grace smirked.
“Good, then we can proceed as planned,” he replied.
“We must proceed with caution,” a pale, blue skinned woman
with purple hair said, stepping from the shadows. “Darkseid is
obviously aware of us and will try to stop us.”
“Let him. Even he can’t stop us now. Especially when we are
this far along,” the man replied with a cold confidence.
“Do not mistake Darkseid for a fool. He will take whatever
measures that’s necessary to stop us,” the woman warned.
“I don’t care. As long as Darkseid and his cronies
fall, anything is worth the risk,” the man countered, anger
stirring in his voice.
“Y’tell her, babe,” the blonde breathed in the
man’s ear.
“So, when do we get started,” the larger black man said,
joining the others after securing the tavern.
“Immediately Coldcast,” the smaller black man said, nodding.
“You’re the leader, Holt,” Coldcast replied.
MANHATTAN BLOCK
LES Zone:
Later…
Ramah Khan and Cat-Man, two other members of Darkseid’s
Inquisitor’s strode arrogantly into an old pawnshop. An old
gray-haired man sat behind the shop’s desk, with the look of
centuries etched on his gaunt features. He wore a special pair of
glasses and a hearing aid cupped the back of his ear. The old man
looked up from his work eyeing Cat-Man and his black and gray uniform
that had red scratch marks across the broad chest. It had a matching
black, cat-shaped cowl with a long billowing cloak, and around his
waist was a grayish utility belt that was littered with many pouches
and the devices of his job. The old man smirked, then glanced at Ramah
Khan who wore red and green regal attire that surged with the magicks
of his homeland far to the west, beyond the Ring of Fire.
Smiling thinly, the old man went back to his task, tinkering with some
small device splayed and opened on his desktop. The old man was a known
snitch and a part of a secret community who staked claims at his being
the long thought deceased Ra’s Al Ghul. Despite the absurdity of
their claims and the senility of some in that community, this
particular pawnshop had been quite useful in gathering information.
“We have come for information, ‘Al Ghul’,”
Ramah Khan said with undisguised contempt. He had little time or
patience for myths.
“Information I have,” ‘Ra’s Al Ghul’ said
without looking up. “If you bring what I seek.”
Ramah Khan nodded to Cat-Man and he reached over desk, grabbing the old
man by the collar of his ragged cloak and pulled him roughly across,
scattering the work.
“We do not have time for subtly my friend. You will tell us about
these ‘Outsiders’ or you will die,” Khan said.
“I see,” ‘Al Ghul’ replied coolly, seemingly
unperturbed at his rough handling. “Then give me a piece of
paper, and you can be on your way.”
The old man wrote what he knew on the piece of paper, and Khan smiled.
He walked out leaving Cat-man with the old man who claimed to be the
once great Ra’s Al Ghul. As Khan contacted Blood, the scream of
the old man echoed out from the pawnshop.
“Did you get what we were looking for?” Blood asked.
“Yes we have,” Khan replied.
“Send the coordinates then meet us there. Blood out,” Blood
said and broke the connection.
“Understood,” Khan replied to static.
Cat-Man walked out with spiked brass knuckles on his hand. They were
stained with the blood of the old man.
“Where to next?” Cat-Man asked, licking at the spattered
blood as he slid the metal from his fingers.
“Brooklyn,” Khan replied, ignoring his companion’s
habits. Khan had tasted blood in his time.
“Goodie,” Cat-Man said, chuckling as he put his spiked
knuckles away.
MANHATTAN BLOCK
Brooklyn Sector:
Now…
The Outsiders quietly snuck through the sewers and underground tunnels
leading straight into the New Apokoliptan weapon manufacturing plant.
Here in the outer sectors they did not have to deal with the Shield of
Zatanna: Darkseid's General in charge of Manhattan Block. She was
only concerned with the island itself, luckily, her mystical shield
trapping any and all on the island proper, ignoring the rest of the
five sectors. Here, the stench of offal and refuse from the plant was
almost overwhelming,
and they occasionally had to stop and recover. Too, in the
silence they could hear the scrabble of those things that lived and
thrived underearth: the twisted minions of Mantis.
The plan was to try and weaken Darkseid’s army by limiting their
vast resources. The Outsiders had already taken out two weapon
manufacturing plants in the zones of Cuba and Indonesia. Drops in the
ocean they knew, but their efforts had drawn attention, and word was
slowly spreading through the masses. The name of the Outsiders was
becoming more than myth, and almost legend.
Still, the best laid plans…
They heard the churn and grind of machinery as they crept into main
reactor core. It was oddly dark save for the eerie glow emanating from
the waste vault. All the better, at least until the lights
flashed on and they found themselves surrounded.
“My, my, what do we have here?” Blood asked over the hum of
the factory.
“It looks as though these heretics were planning
something,” Blue Devil mocked as he gripped his trident tightly,
enjoying the fun and shocked expressions on the rebels.
“Perhaps we were,” Holt said, ignoring the blue-skinned
Inquisitor’s jibes. “In any case, would you care to get out
of our way or we’ll have to kill you.”
“Y’know, that’s the reason people don’t like
you heretics that much. You’re more than willing to throw away
human lives along with the lives of the Apokoliptan forces,”
Katana replied.
“T’die is better than livin’ under Darkseid’s
rule,” Grace spat.
“That much we can agree on,” Samantha said.
“Enough idle chat,” Blood said, his face darkening as his
eyes rolled back with concentration. “Change, change the form of
man! Free the prince forever damned! Free the might from fleshy mire!
Boil the blood in heart of fire! Gone, gone the form of man, and rise
the demon Etrigan!” Blood shouted as his body twisted and
morphed. His skin darkened and claws ripped through the flesh of
his hands. Jagged teeth burst from the gums of his blood-soaked,
widening mouth. His eyes burned with a sudden fire even as his
uniform faded, only to be replaced by the royal garb of Hades
hierarchy. Jason Blood had vanished, transformed into the
Demon… Etrigan!
“We have better things to do than to go ten rounds with you
lackeys,” Holt replied, “But consider THIS a
distraction.”
Holt threw a tiny metallic sphere into the air and it exploded,
blinding everyone save the Outsiders who wore special filtering lenses.
The Inquisitors rubbed their aching eyes only to find the Outsiders
gone when their collective vision at last returned.
“Damn it,” Khan said.
“Damned they are. But worry not for they haven’t gotten
far,” Etrigan replied, laughing as he bounded away in pursuit.
The reactor room…
“Attach the bomb quickly,” Holt said, his eyes scanning the
dim for the Inquisitors. “We won’t have long.”
“How are we going to escape,” Samantha asked, worriedly
licking her lips and wiping the sweat from her brow. Even she could
feel the heat of radiation, and she wondered how Holt could manage.
“There is no escape for you!” Cat-Man hissed as the
Extremists dropped in from a wide ventilation shaft above.
“Don’t make a move! This bomb is rigged to explode!”
Holt warned.
“You’d risk your own lives on useless dreams?”
Etrigan said. “Preposterous! Said bomb must be less than it
seems.”
“Really?” Holt replied as he activated the detonator.
“Any sudden moves and we all become history.”
“He’s bluffing!” Katana said as she inched forward.
“Stop!” Cat-Man said. “We can’t take that
chance. Darkseid would have our heads if this plant was to be blown
up.”
“He speaks the truth,” Khan replied.
“Bah! Cowards are my allies!” Etrigan snorted. “It
seems true however that we are at an impasse as the clock ticks down
and time flies. But the important thing is you can’t escape. In
this case, everyone dies!”
“Who says we can’t?” Holt said as the
Outsider’s forms suddenly shimmered and vanished from sight.
“Where did they go?” Katana asked, scanning the room for
the foe.
“Never mind them. We have to dispose of this bomb,” Cat-Man
replied as he touched the device.
The bomb made a whining noise once Cat-Man touched it and then the
whole facility went up in a dazzling explosion of light, sound and
smoke...
MANHATTAN BLOCK
Richmond Sector:
After…
“Gone, gone oh Etrigan… Return the form... of the
man…”
Jason Blood collapsed to his knees on the tall, rocky hill that
overlooked the stagnant, filthy waters of the harbor. He saw the
flashing lights of Fire Boats plying the slime, spewing water on the
few blazes yet burning, dotting what was left of Brooklyn Sector.
Para Demons and aero cars flitted through the hazy, red skies seeking
not only survivors but also more importantly looking for the missing
Outsiders. Blood had no idea where the heretics had vanished to,
or how for that matter, but he was certain that they were nowhere
nearby.
Through bleary, burning eyes he saw the glowing figure high above the
bay. It was little more than a fiery silhouette within the
churning tempest of radiation spiraling up from the charred remains of
the sector and the reactor, which had been housed within now rampant
though on its way to being contained. Blood suspected it might be
Firestorm called from the Pits in the Ring of Fire, though he could not
tell for certain.
He was tired and weak from his ordeal. Even though it had been Etrigan
within the explosion, Blood had still felt the burn and pain beyond the
Demon’s hell borne defenses. What was fire in any form to
one of Hades minions after all? Still, Etrigan’s magicks had been
spent in escape, then doing what he could to contain the devastation as
best as possible. A drop in the ocean…
Brooklyn Sector was all but gone.
The Outsiders had escaped.
The Extremists were dead save he, and he no doubt would be soon as
well. Or worse…
Darkseid did not tolerate failure.
He would not be pleased…
THE
END
Next
Issue: The
story continues in the pages of DARK GENESIS #3,
ON SALE SOON!
The
Breaking Point:
Okay, I know I said this last time, but 'This IS Mick Edwards final
issue of OUTSIDERS!' Really! Mick sent me the above issue
weeks if not months ago when I first started hinting at Dark Genesis,
but over the subsequent time he was not as pleased with it as he
initially was. I however disagreed. With just a bit of
editing it fit right into the overall theme of Dark Genesis, and I felt
that it progressed towards the final story and expanded on the world
created by Darkseid! I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did...
Curt F
EIC
JLU: 2001
Story © 2005 Michael Edwards and
Curt F and
may
not be reproduced without permission.
