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Post by starlord on Dec 18, 2007 19:08:32 GMT -5
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Post by starlord on Dec 18, 2007 19:18:11 GMT -5
Titans: The Resistance [/i] Issue #12: “Cult of Blood, Part 1” Written By: Jay McIntyre Cover by: Jay Zirron Edited by: Brian Burchette[/center] |
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Post by starlord on Dec 18, 2007 19:19:24 GMT -5
"Take me from this earth
an endless night-
this, the end of life.
From the dark I feel your lips
and taste your bloody kiss."
-Type O Negative
"But first, on earth as Vampire sent,
Thy corpse shall from its tomb be rent:
Then ghastly haunt thy native place,
And suck the blood of all thy race;
There from thy daughter, sister, wife,
At midnight drain the stream of life;
Yet loathe the banquet which perforce
Must feed thy livid living corpse.
Thy victims are they yet expire
Shall know the demon for their sire,
As cursing thee, thou cursing them,
Thy flowers withered on the stem."
-Lord Byron (Giaour)
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Post by starlord on Dec 18, 2007 19:20:01 GMT -5
His name was David McCree, and he was on the run.
Down the London streets he ran in the deepening twilight.
This was impossible! Impossible! It could not be! Surely, a world ruled by the iron fist of the Markovians was bad enough? There was no need for....greater nightmares.
Greater nightmares like.....
No! He couldn’t think about that. He just had to keep running before.....
Before....
A patch of greater darkness bloomed in front of him. “Why do you run, child? The blessings of the dark are on you.”
“I’ll pass, thanks!” David shouted and turned and ran the other way.
“You haven't learned,” the voice chuckled from overhead. “You have no choice.”
“You’re not real! You can’t be real! There’s enough evil in the world without the likes of you!”
Still he could not see his pursuer, but the velvet voice answered him all the same, keeping pace with him as he ran. Mocking him. Toying with him. “Ahh, but what you consider evil is the work of mortals; such a petty, transient thing. So small a thing. We on the other hand....we are eternal.”
A long, cold hand grabbed his shirt and yanked him into the sky.
“No!!! Please don’t....please don’t!”
“Relax child...” the vampire said....almost crooned. “A far grander fate is in store for you than a simple meal.”
David’s only response was a wordless scream.
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Post by starlord on Dec 18, 2007 19:21:36 GMT -5
Hundreds of miles away, Terra and Ravager were sharing a laugh.
“...I can’t believe you did that,” Terra said, eyes wide even as she giggled.
“I tell ya, Princess, ya gotta lighten up some more,” Ravager said. “Learn to enjoy life.”
“Lighten up? You mean loosen up.”
Ravager shrugged. “Yeah? Maybe I do. For all your willingness to fight yer family and stuff, you still act and think like a noble, babe. You’ve lived a sheltered life. Maybe you should spread your wings a bit.”
Terra stared at her. “Did you call me....babe?”
Ravager glared. “What, does that offend your ‘delicate sensibilities’?” She fluttered a hand. “Oh dearie me, we can’t have that, can we?”
Terra shook her head. “No, Rose. It doesn’t bother me....it’s just....so strange to hear myself called that.”
Ravager relaxed a bit. “Yeah, okay, I’m sorry.”
“Not a problem. In truth, I am not totally against your suggesting...it’s just my upbringing, as you say....I’m not sure I can really experiment in that fashion. Even if I were to try.”
“And Robin’s almost as tight-laced as you, no offense. I’ll have to think of something to help you guys along.”
“Help us along? Now I’m really worried.”
“Don’t be Princess. It’ll be all right.”
Terra made a small noise that was not prepared to commit itself.
Robin came out on deck. His face was grim.
“What is it?” Terra asked him.
“I received a coded message from Batman. He relayed it from...it’s original source.”
“And who would that be?” Ravager planted her hands on her hips.
“Someone.....someone who used to work with us in the old days. Well, I shouldn’t say “us” as it was before my time.”
“Who?” Terra said.
Robin shook his head. “I’m not even sure I can explain, right now.....but if Ravager and the others are willing, we could go to meet him. He’s asked for help, and we’re qualified to give it..”
“Where is he?” Ravager asked.
“England.”
Ravager whistled. “That won’t be easy, boy wonder. Sneaking into Britain won’t be like Italy was. It’s a fortress”
Robin shrugged. “I was told to ask. If we can’t do it, Batman will find another way.”
“I didn’t say we couldn’t do it, I said it wouldn’t be easy. But I do think you owe us an explanation.”
Robin nodded. “Let’s gather the others together, so I only have to explain once.”
“Argent is still on board, but Anarky, Supergirl and Green Lantern will take some doing,” Ravager sighed. “All right, let’s put the word out....”
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Post by starlord on Dec 18, 2007 19:22:11 GMT -5
Pyotr Zhukov had arrived in the former United Kingdom four days ago.
He had found his new office waiting for him, small but well appointed. He was not the official Governor; such a worthy was already in place. His title was “Court Strategist At Large.” It was understood that he was acting on direct authority from the Empress and was to be treated with the appropriate respect, and within his own bailiwick he had absolute authority.
Not that he expected much conflict with the local garrison, Governor, or the various Overseers underneath that worthy. Indeed, he would probably need their help.
The problem was simply that he had no idea where Terra’s little group would strike. None at all. Europe, probably. Markovia controlled almost the entire Old World, but here was the center of power, the heart of authority, and after all, the only area Terra really knew well.
It was no speculation that they were using the pirates for transport, and almost certainly America as a base. Spies were already working on that front.
He sat wearily in his chair. What frustrated and puzzled him was that apparently, Britain in general and London in particular seemed to have a separate, additional problem. Citizens simply vanished off the street at night. Sometimes their bodies were found in grisly condition. He didn’t know what to make of it. The Empress had no such concerns on the matter. Perhaps, he thought, after the Titans were destroyed.
If he survived long enough to achieve that aim, of course, which was far from certain.
He sighed and started going over his paperwork.
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Post by starlord on Dec 18, 2007 19:22:43 GMT -5
David struggled. He kicked. He screamed.
None of it mattered. The vampire seemed almost amused.
“It is fortunate for you that I value your continued existence, child,” the creature chuckled. David got a good look at it for the first time. He wished he hadn’t.
The vampire looked human enough; more “Underworld” than “30 Days of Night”, really. Pale skin but more or less normal humanoid features, a sort of sinister charm. He wore a flowing black trenchoat over a rather ordinary button down work shirt and black trousers.
It was the eyes that set him apart. They were blood red orbs without iris or pupils. In the darkness they seemed to glow. Night vision, David supposed.
Then the vampire smiled....and showed off those fangs. David’s blood chilled all over again.
They were on top of Big Ben, on the ledge above the clock itself, the rest of the spire towering above them. There really wasn’t enough space for comfortable human habitation up here. Any other time, David would be afraid of Markovian surveillance spotting them up here. Now he almost wished they would.
He backed away instinctively, towards the edge. Almost casually, the vampire reached out with one long hand and pulled him back.
“Relax child, I mean you no harm.”
“W-why do you keep calling me child?”
“I would have thought that was obvious. If I wanted to feed on you, I could have already done it. That leaves only one possibility doesn’t it.....child?”
For a long frozen moment, David considered throwing himself off the ledge and killing himself. Then he considered screaming loud enough for the Markovians to hear him. But what could they do against the vampire? What could any person do?
“I don’t know how to put this....but sleeping in a coffin really isn’t my style.”
The vampire laughed again, showing those long pointed fangs. For a moment David’s terrified mind skittered around the question of how the hell those fangs stayed in the mouth when it was closed. Then he was chilled again as he realized he would almost certainly get a chance to find out for himself.
“We do not need the props of bad theater, child. Only to stay out of the sun. It is true that one’s native soil is helpful, but not required; it’s rather like a human sleeping on a particularly comfortable mattress. And coffins are totally unnecessary; that is a misconception due to some of us waking from our transformation after being buried. Such will not be a problem for you. We have learned well down the long roll of years.”
“And if I refuse to be turned, you’ll just kill me?”
The vampire was still smiling, but for the first time there was something hostile in it’s scarlet gaze. “You don’t get to refuse. You will become one of us, like it or not.” He paused, then added reflectively, “If you cannot stand it, you could always go sunbathing at the first opportunity. That, I cannot prevent. It has happened before. But I credit you with more intelligence than that.”
David buried his face in his hands and wept. He was something of a goth poseur--an easy enough lifestyle to fall into in dreary Markovian-occupied London--but this was another matter entirely. And nothing he wanted. But what choice had he?
The vampire gazed at him patiently, letting him cry for a short time. There was a glimmer of understanding in those scarlet orbs, which only made sense, David supposed. The vampire had been human once, too. Finally, it went on. “Besides, there’s more to unlife than skulking around in graveyards and clashing with idiot hunters. We have a far greater and society and purpose. You will find it fascinating, I think. That is one of the reasons I chose you.”
The vampire rose to it’s full height and looked down on him. His gaze was not unkindly, which made it all the worse.
It extended a long white hand. “Come, and see.”
Sighing, knowing he had no choice, David let the vampire help him up.
There was a rustling of wind around the vampire’s trench coat, and they were gone from that place....
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Post by starlord on Dec 18, 2007 19:23:43 GMT -5
Anarky was the hardest to track down. Not because he was hiding; he wanted to come along readily enough. But he was spying on a corrupt Gotham official whom he dearly wanted to take down.
Supergirl interrupted him, floating overhead. “We have more important matters,” she told him.
Anarky swore. “Yes, thanks, I was perfectly aware of that. I got our “noble leader’s” message. But I really wanted to get this guy.” He went back to staring at the man through his binoculars, engaging in a shady deal with an industrialist from Metropolis in his office.
“He will be here when you get back,” Supergirl pointed out.
“If we get back,” Anarky sighed. “Still, I suppose I should be grateful that it’s you, and not Lantern.” He put his binocs away. Supergirl reached down with one hand, which he accepted. She took off at speed, and he yelped in alarm, wondering for a moment if Green Lantern might not have been a better choice after all; this alien simply didn’t care.
He had some time to recover his composure as they flew away from Gotham and sped over the Atlantic. “What’s the mission, anyway? I’ve never heard that sanctimonious fascist so rattled.”
“He would not say until we were all gathered together. Why are the political infrastructures of your society so important to you?”
He was surprised by the abrupt change of subject. “What, aren’t our governments important to your ‘studies’?”
“I did not say they were not important. I am merely curious why they are so important to you, speficially.”
“Ah, in other words, why did I become Anarky?”
“If you like.”
Anarky smiled thinly under his mask. “It’s a calling, I suppose you could say. I might as well ask you why you must ‘research’ everything. When I was very young I began to realize the truth about the world. About the insanity of order and control, and how it always leads to death.”
“Sometimes it doesn’t lead to death,” Supergirl said softly. “Sometimes it leads to....stagnation.”
Anarky presumed she was talking about her home planet. “Stagnation is it’s own form of death, is it not?”
“I suppose.”
“Death by science and procedure....” Anarky shook it off. “Anyway, to get back to your question, early in life I realized the truth about the world and knew I had to fight. But the process of preparing was long and arduous.”
“You sound like Terra,” Supergirl said thoughtfully.
Anarky had no answer for that, and so the rest of the journey was silent.
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Post by starlord on Dec 18, 2007 19:24:16 GMT -5
The man Robin wanted to meet was in a run-down office building in western London, hiding from Markovians and vampires alike, with two allies. Fighting vampires was a hard business. He fought Markovians only when he had to. He could do it, but felt no joy in it. His hatred was reserved for those that were no longer human.
That was one of the reasons he had parted company with Batman when he did. Ordinary criminals were not his concern. Markovians were not his concern. The creatures of the night were, to his mind, a much greater threat than either. Which was not to say he enjoyed Markovian rule; in fact he hated it. But he would rather a world ruled by Markovians entirely, rather than one laid helpless before the parasitic vampires.
Therefore, it galled him mightily to ask Batman for help. But he felt, in his current circumstances, that he had no choice.
“Will the help you asked for arrive?” one of his allies asked. A Scottish vampire hunter, he knew only that the man had tried to reach contacts in America.
“I don’t know. I hope so,” the man replied. ”We can only lay low here for so long.”
The Scot grunted. “What worries me is of late, the vampires seem to be more than feeding, they’re recruiting. They’re up to something.”
“They’re always up to something,” the other ally, a native Londoner said. “This time they’re up to something big.”
“They’re truly organized now,” the man agreed. “Not just Masters and children. A real grouping. A coven, a cult? We don’t have enough answers. That’s another reason I want help.”
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Post by starlord on Dec 18, 2007 19:25:03 GMT -5
Green Lantern was actually the last to arrive; he had been conferring with his mentor. They alighted on the Sweet Lilli’s deck.
“Sorry to drag you all away from personal business,” Robin said.
“Not at all,” Green Lantern said. “What we’re doing here is important.” Even Anarky reluctantly nodded agreement with that one.
“So who is this mysterious person you want us to sneak into Britain to aid?” Terra asked.
“This ought to be good,” Anarky muttered.
Robin opened his mouth and began to speak. He spoke for some time. Supergirl wasn’t affected much by the information; as typical of her, her main reaction was mild curiosity. Argent was puzzled but sympathetic; given the circumstances of her own life and the origin of her powers, she didn’t much see the importance of some one-time student of Batman that Robin had never even met personally.
Terra and Anarky, however, were each much moved, though of course Anarky was reluctant to admit it. In some ways like themselves, the rogue student of the Bat-clan intrigued them.
But what impressed and startled all of them was this man’s cause and enemy.
“Vampires,” Anarky marveled. “As in classic, blood sucking, undead vampires.”
“He’s been hunting them for years,” Robin said. “He’s never needed to ask for help before, not from us. But they’ve never been organized this way before. It’s frightening.”
“Believe it or not I’d heard of this before now,” Ravager said. “Not of the guy, but of the vampires. You travel the sea as much as I have, you see and hear weird stuff. My dad killed a couple in his time, or so he told me before....before he died.” She shook herself. “Anyway, this is only gonna make things more difficult, you know. We’re gonna have to sneak into Markovia, find the guy, and help him fight vampires, all without attracting Markovian attention or getting bit ourselves.”
“And find out what, exactly, the Vampires are up to besides the obvious,” Robin agreed.
“Sauce for the goose,” Terra murmured.
Ravager smiled.
“Anybody want out? This is outside our normal purview, so I’d understand any refusals, really,” Robin said.
Anarky snorted. “You kidding me? This guy sounds like the one member of your precious Bat-crew that I can relate to! And besides, undead tyranny is just one more injustice to fight.”
“Markovians are my first choice of enemy, naturally,” said Green Lantern. “But I swore an oath to fight all evil, not just them.”
“I’m with you,” Terra said simply.
“Awwww,” Ravager said, and Anarky snickered. Robin rolled his eyes and Terra shuffled her feet uncomfortably.
“Vampires, a horrible concept,” Argent said. “My power is yours.”
“Ravager?” Robin asked her.
“Like Terra said, sauce for the goose,” Rose answered. “But, this will require a bit more subtlety and caution. Give me a night to arrange something, if we have that much time?”
Robin nodded.
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Post by starlord on Dec 18, 2007 19:26:22 GMT -5
The vampire led David underground, through tunnels and corridors and abandoned sewer tunnels long since dried, through the Underground and many more labyrinths of corridors.
David found vampire travel almost impossible to understand, even for himself; trying to explain it to someone else would have been impossible. They moved through the shadows as a natural environment, like the flicker of a black wing in the night. He was mildly disappointed that they didn’t turn to mist.
The vampire must have read his thought, for he smiled and said, “I can’t carry another while in mist form. That is a skill you wil learn when you are one of us, child.”
“Wonderful,” David said with heavy sarcasm. The vampire only laughed.
The creature of darkness carried him through the underground labyrinth, turning corner after corner seemingly at random. Finally, though, after they were far removed from the hustle and bustle of life, there came a dim red glow that grew slowly brighter.
At last, they traveled down a long stone tunnel that must have been carved centuries ago. They came into a vast cavern, lit by torches. The bottom of the place was a lake of blood.
More than a dozen vampires stood around the pool, at it’s scarlet-stained shores, grinning unpleasantly or chuckling to themselves. But one was different.
One stood in the center of the pool, on what exactly David could not see; perhaps a rock. Or perhaps he was floating on it. He wore much more colorful clothing than the other vampires, and wore on his head the skull of some prehistoric beast like a crown.
“You have brought a new one to join us, my friend?” This ghastly apparition asked. “Excellent!”
David recoiled. “What is this?!?”
“This?” his own vampire smiled unpleasantly. “This is the Cult of Blood.”
The other vampires took up the chant. “Cult of Blood. Cult of Blood! CULT OF BLOOD!”
For David, this was more than enough; whatever hold the vampire had over him, be it mental domination, unnatural charm, or simple intimidation, broke. He screamed, but his voice was lost in the chanting. He turned to run, but “his” vampire almost casually reached out with one hand and grabbed his jacket. He wrestled out of the garment, but the hand clamped on again. And all the while, the vampire continued shouting the cult’s name at the top of his voice. When David looked back, terrified beyond all reason, the vampire was still shouting, but was also looking at him, and shook his head.
David wept. He was in hell, and he wasn’t even dead yet.
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Post by starlord on Dec 18, 2007 19:26:59 GMT -5
The vampire hunters were waiting together, conversing in low voices.
There was a knock on the door; a coded sequence. Even though they recognized it, all three men readied their stakes and crossbows.
“Enter,” said the leader, stake held ready.
A slim, agile girl slipped in; long brown hair and short black leather jacket. “Brilliant news,” she said. “You got a coded response like you hoped. It’s quite long.”
“Thanks, Dorothy.” The man unrolled the spool of paper and read the series of triangles, circles and dots. A slow, amazed smile spread across his face. “Even better than I hoped. He’s sending us those metas that hit Markovia. They just need time to get in past the Imperial defenses. Should be a few days; we just have to hold out.” His expression turned thoughtful. “It will be interesting, to meet my replacement.”
“Your replacement?” the girl frowned, and the other two men exchanged puzzled looks.
“Oh yes,” said the man. “Once I was meant to fight ordinary crime. But I found a better calling. Which is not to say I don’t appreciate their help.”
Dorothy touched his arm. “You are special, Jason, never doubt it.”
Jason Todd grinned unpleasantly. “I certainly hope the vampires think so.”
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Post by starlord on Dec 18, 2007 19:27:54 GMT -5
Continued.....[/b]
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