Aberrant: 200X - Dark Savior

[Warren Verona]

In a world beyond controlling,
Are you going to deny the savior,
In front of your eyes?

Stare into the night.

Power beyond containing,
Are you going to remain a slave for,
The rest of your life?

Give into the night.

The darkness of the large room was offset only by soft light the came from its center. A cylindrical glass tube bubbled, filled with a clear liquid as machinery at its base monitored its contents.

A dark haired man floated within, several electrodes covering his body. In his chest was an impressive wound, a three inch diameter hole that bore completely through his body, allowing one to look completely through his torso.

He recognized the three people that stood in his domain. A beautiful yellow-haired woman and two others, a man dressed in expensive clothing but wrapped in a cloak, and a lovely Colombian woman who carried the scent of freshly turned earth. She spoke with him, but he could not here her words through the haze of memory. With eyes on the gorgeous blond woman, he never saw noticed the other two slip behind him.

His fingers twitched slightly, stirring the liquid a bit around him before his hands balled tightly into fists.

It pierced his chest and burned like a chemical fire. He tried to discorporate, sending his body into the spirit realm but the magnesium stake in his heart locked all his powers away, leaving him defenseless. He collapsed to the floor convulsing and writhing in agony.

An inky blackness oozed from within the man’s wounds. So thick was it that it never mixed with the water or disturbed his crystalline prison. Slowly tendon and tissue mended and the inky, dark poultice was absorbed back into the man’s body.

Hey… Chief… ya with me?

It was black, and he could hear nothing but the bubbling of the liquid in his vat. ”I… I can’t see… where…”

*We*, my Emo-other-half, are floating in a tank, somewhere between Who-The-Hell-Cares and Let’s-Bust-The-Fuck-Out.

”We’re talking, how… my body won’t listen…”

Yeah… bout that… y’see I’ve been putting a lot of work into keeping us going, and in order to get out of here it’s going to require more balls than you come standard with. You can’t awaken because you’re still too weak. I, on the other hand…

”No… I-I can do it… I don’t need you…”

[Warren Verona]

The doors slid open and the lights of the cylinder cut off while the lights of the room activated. Two people, a man and a woman both with the look of scientists or researchers about them entered taking their places at respective workstations across from each other in front of the vat.

“Can you believe those guys?” The man, Dr. Pierce according to his name tag, said to the comely woman behind him as he tossed a thick file of paper work on to a flat area of a control console. “It’s insane to expect us to know everything about this guy.”

“Andrew,” She turned and faced him, leaning against the console as she folded her arms. Her thick British accent only added to her sophisticated attractiveness. “Calm down. They’re just as curious as we are, that’s all. His quantum output is incredible for a dead nova. Normally their fire dies out, his hasn’t.”

She turned and faced the vat, inspecting the perfect quantum forged body the floated within. Her eyes trailed downward and then froze at his chest. “Oh my God. Andrew! Andrew, look! His chest, it’s healed!”

“He’s dead Rebecca, dead guys don’t heal.” He chuckled while he finished pulling his lunch from a brown paper bag. He turned to look for himself and he too froze in astonishment. “Oh, my God…”

Quickly the two researchers sat at their consoles and began brining up statistical readouts of everything the electrodes recorded while they were away from their desks.

Then go damn you… go! This glass means nothing to us! Pass through!

”Can’t… still too weak… I need more time, just let me rest a bit longer…”

Idiot! Call to the spirit world and open us a conduit! We can escape this place if you just listen to me! No cage can contain us!

Although still half asleep, groggy from months of sleep and confused from half formed memories, the nova listened. As the rooms occupants clicked away at their keyboards comparing notes and reviewing data they failed to notice The Revenant within the vat simply fade away. With eyes still closed he floated breathlessly between the lands of the living and the planes of shadow and death. He passed through the glass silently, carrying none of its contents with him. Stressed already beyond his limits he couldn’t keep the conduit open for very long. Wet and weakened the man solidified back into the physical world and fell to the floor in a sloppy heap of dead flesh and clear, damp gelatin preservatives.

Ooookay… so much for that idea… thought I could drive from here, apparently I was gravely mistaken. Get it Dead Boy… ‘gravely’…

Startled by the sudden commotion both researchers sprung from their seats opposite one another and backed away. “Rebecca! Call Dr. Monroe, the subject is free, we need containment in lab 24!”

She tried to move towards the phone on her console, but the reaction in the room made her give pause. Neither of the scientists could move as they stood paralyzed by the event transpiring in front of them. A black, inky fluid appeared to bleed out from beneath The Revenant’s body, as he lay motionless on the floor. He convulsed once before launching into the air and spiraling so his back faced the ground. There he hovered for only a split second before the inky darkness of the puddle at his shot tendrils of pitch black into his flesh. His veins stained and skin began to tint while a smoky aura of shadow began to consume him completely. He resisted, but it was futile, and eventually The Revenant was completely consumed by the darkness of his Shadow.

[Shadow Revenant]

His feet touched the floor for the first time in what felt like an eternity. He was The Revenant’s savior, the darker half that he made the bargain with as the young boy was buried alive. It was The Shadow that gave The Revenant the power to exist in the world of the living, and now, his strength would free them from this place.

The dark figure’s physical features were identical to The Revenant’s in every way, save that his skin was black as pitch and drank all the light around him. A black nimbus drifted off his body cloaking him slightly in wisps of pure shadow.

Rebecca slowly began moving towards the phone on the console, a red handset that would allow her to call for security. She paused for a second time as a black tendril emanating from the aura that surrounded the shadow monster slithered up her thigh and beneath her skirt. “The deal is a simple one… go for that phone and I’ll tear your heart out through your cunt. Are we clear?” His voice was raspy, like a loud whisper that echoed from an unfathomable darkness.

She cringed at the chill cold of the black tentacle, breathing heavily as fear gripped her tightly. She nodded in understanding, barely resisting the desire to faint.

A second lash of shadow extended and wrapped tightly around Andrew’s arm and yanked him hard enough to dislocate his shoulder and he stumbled into the waiting grip of Shadow Revenant. His fingers tightened around the man’s throat and he effortlessly lifted the man off the floor.

“You however, are not as attractive.” He cocked his head to the side and grinned at the suffering man. “So die.” His grip tightened and the gruesome cracking of bone drew a fearful scream from The Shadow’s hostage.

He turned and faced her, that evil grin spreading across his face as her partner fell lifelessly to the floor. Slowly he stepped his way towards her, his steps utterly silent on the reflective surface of the sterilized floor. Shimmering pinpoints of yellow pierced through the dark anima of shadow. ”You.” He said, cupping her chin and gently squeezing her cheeks. ”Tell us where we are, now!”

“P-p-p-lease don’t kill me…” she quivered, daring not to move too much as tears flowed freely down her cheeks.

He rubbed his chin with his free hand and his eyes rolled around in intense contemplation. “Hmm, can you point to that on a map?”

“Wh-… what?” She gazed confused. “You’re crazy…”

“Crazy?” He looked down on her, his pearly white teeth offering up a stark contrast against his pitch features. ”Dr…,” His yellow eyes wandered across her chest, stopping at her name tag. Brighton. You and I… we’re not so different. Of course I’m obviously smarter, after all, I’m not one to mouth off to a man with a tenebrous tentacle wrapped around my thigh threatening to rip my innards out through my reproductive organs. Hmm?” The dark arm slithered further up her thigh and traced threateningly across her panty line. ”Mmm… satin. Aren’t you naughty…” He grinned again, rubbing in her embarrassment.

“You make a good point…”

”What? You’re naughty?” He asked.

“No,” The Doctor retorted, trying not to blush. Considering the life or death situation she found herself in, she didn’t fear the demon the stood before her. He was magnificent in her eyes, a creature of pure beauty and majesty. Proudly she met his eyes and gently gripped the dark man’s hand, lowering it away from her slowly. “I’m sorry for calling you crazy, and you’re in a lab just off the shore of Manhattan.”

”Off the shore?” His eyes narrowed, she showed little fear, which only made Shadow regard her with even more caution.

“A converted freighter, used for research purposes.” She said shuddering slightly as the tendril glide across a sensitive spot.

“On whose orders?” He leaned in, dangerously close to her. She could inhale the anima as it drifted from his body and she never would have guessed until today that true darkness had a dull irony flavor to it. She found it intoxicating.

“I can’t tell you that, they’ll kill me.” She looked into his eyes silently pleading for him to not force her to tell him.

“Uhh, hello?” A strand of darkness lurched forward and tapped her on the forehead. ”I was kind of here first, I’ve got dibs.”

“Then do it.” She stood straight, proudly waiting for the killing blow. “Better the death you offer, than waiting for my superiors to think one up for me. The anticipation would far worse than the release you offer me now.”

His eyes narrowed. She was a strong willed woman and he liked that, he could respect that. Although addled by lunacy The Shadow Revenant could always respect those who were strong, and brave, and unafraid to meet death with their chin up. The tendril slowly slid down her thigh, releasing its clammy grip on her. “Congratulations, you’ve just won your life.”

He turned and walked to the door, leaving the woman standing there without another word. Two massive tendrils shot forward into the center seam of the door. They oozed between the cracks before shaping into solid shadow pry hooks, bending the inner seam of the door pushing it away as they formed. He swept his arm outward and the hooks followed suit, moving outward and the door was torn open.

He laughed an insanity tainted laugh. “Let the slaughter begin!”

He dashed off down the corridor, a black tentacle snatching Dr. Pierce’s sandwich off the console and leaving Dr. Brighton behind. His laughter echoed through the halls, the shadow of The Revenant was now free.

[Shadow Revenant]

Alarms and claxons sounded as the night cloaked figure dashed through the expanded hallways of the overhauled freighter turned secret research facility. The white walls and brightly lit corridors bothered the demon of darkness, too much light made him uneasy, he liked the dark and his only solace was the glossy, freshly waxed black floors he ran on as he sped down the halls stuffing a club sandwich in his mouth a little bit further with each stride.

His naked feet skid upon the shiny floor carrying him some several feet, well into the middle of an intersection of hallways.

“Freeze!” Shouted a stern voice authoritative voice off to his left. “Place your hands where I can see them and slowly turn with you back facing me! Do it now!”

A bit surprised Shadow whipped his head in the direction of the voice. He wasn’t surprised by the voice, he was surprised by the audacity of the speaker; mortals do not speak, unless given permission to do so, or addressed first.

He looked from side to side slowly, like he was making sure that there was no one around but him. Pushing a stray leaf of lettuce up into his mouth he chewed slowly, and as best he could. He would have said something witty, but franky there was just too much in his mouth for him to speak.

He pointed to himself, “Meh?”

“I said turn around and keep you hands where I can see them! Do it now!” An officer, wearing a uniform the Shadow did not recognize pointed a large caliber pistol at him. Another officer flanks him, a female with her hair up in a tight bun. Their uniforms appeared to be private, or corporate security. They were black with matching boots polished to a shine, had Shadow given time to think about it, he would have mistaken them for armored car guards.

Shadow faced his opposition, still chewing, and politely presenting his index finger held high in the universal ‘one moment please’ display. The female officer cleared her throat, slightly embarrassed by the rather calm obsidian man standing naked in the hallway. Shadow chewed as swiftly as he possibly could, but his mouth remained as dry as a barren desert, the bread having absorbed all of his saliva. He hunched over, resting his hands on knees. “Eader uh you god some wudda, mouph iz dwy, ard too shew, ya nuh?”

“Certainly isn’t shy, is he?” The female CorpSec said as she drew hre gun and trained it on the rather odd scene unfolding in front of her.

“I said to turn around,” the male CorpSec continued to shout. “Do. It. Now!”

The dark nova finally finished his sandwich and faced the guards once more, holding his hands skyward, while everything else swayed carelessly in the hallway, with a polite grin on his face. “Sorry ‘bout that, caught me in the middle of lunch. Think maybe we can pick this up later? I only get thirty minutes.” A pearly white smile punctuated his response.

“I will blow your goddamn head off,” the male guard screamed at him. He had the tone of an ex-marine high on machismo with something to prove to his lady friend beside him. “Turn around, and do. It. No-…”

Swifter than either of the two could respond a tenebrous lash darted out from Shadow’s, ignored up to this point as best as possible, mid section. It solidified and pierced the man’s face at his nose and exited the back of his skull with a gruesome spray of blood and brain matter all over the pure white walls and recently waxed floors. Although nothing but a tendril of solid shadow it created a visual that was nothing short of ‘death by penis’.

He hung lifeless, suspended by the dark nova’s phallic death spear. The woman screamed in shock, taken off guard by the swift and rather graphic death of her comrade. “How did you put up with that guy? Jesus. Pretty impressive huh?” Shadow motioned at his killing tool. “My counselors said I should go into porno, but cameras make my ass look big.”

She quickly composed her self and took aim on the murdering nova. The first bullet streaked invisibly past Shadow’s right shoulder marring the wall opposite her on the far side of the hallway. A second left the firing chamber and tore through his chest the way a bullet might rip through thick tar. She never noticed it exit.

His insane smile never his face as he sprung into action. The shadowy tendril that was holding up her partner dissipated into a wisp of black nothingness while he sped forward. He leapt and spun around in the air and his heel cracked her cheek bone as his aerial kick landed. As she staggered his touched the ground softly where leapt again, this time vaulting backward into another kick within a backward flip. His immense strength knocked her nearly five feet into the air and her back arched as she fell prey to gravity’s embrace. “It’s hammer time!” Shadow clapped his hands together over his head and swung them downward, as they moved forward shadow stuff swirled into being around his arms and extended outward rapidly, forming the head of an gigantic hammer perfectly in line with the falling woman’s body. It connected three feet before she touched the ground and sped her decent, ending the combo in a thunderous explosion of noise, blood, and viscera. The sheer power of the impact tore her body asunder and squashed her like a ripe tomato.

He stood over his handy work, the menacing grin never leaving his face. He spat out the bullet upon her crushed chest. “Bitch.”

He snapped his head to attention and looked over his shoulder. He could hear the heavy boot falls from the one of the other corridors notifying him that several more of what passed for security as on their way.

He grinned, and ran off.

[Shadow Revenant]

The battle was already underway by the time the security cameras located him in the ships cargo area. The wide open areas were the perfect for a stand off with the security detail. He'd lured them here and they, in turn, had locked the area down, think he had no means of escape.

One by one the men and women of the vessel's security force fell to Shadow's acrobatic fighting style. Swinging from rafters, vaulting over opponents, and lashing onto stationary objects and pulling himself out of the way of fire were quickly becoming common sights to those trapped within with the black monster. Tendrils of shadow consistently shifted their shapes into all manner of weaponry: wicked looking spears, curved blades, spiked balls, and even serrated shears, nothing was off limits as he blazed through the area a whirling dark mass of death and destruction.

There were more of them there were of him however and he quickly found himself over whelmed by the sheer number of opponents. As they closed in around him he reached deep within and called to the power of his engine of darkness. Bullets streamed passed as he charged up for a final assault, a few tore into his legs and chest passing through him and denting the large cargo containers.

Over twenty guards closed in around him, training their automatic weapons and doing their best to follow the orders to bring him in 'alive'. He never for a moment looked worried. The sneer never leaving his face he slammed his fist into the floor of the cargo hold summoning from the ground hundreds upon thousands of shadowy needles the launched upwards impaling every officer around him and shooting through everything caught in the vicinity of the inky black mass that pooled out from beneath him and linked every spike to the others.

He laughed, the insane cackle echoed through every inch of the ship freezing the blood of crewman and researcher who had the misfortune of hearing it.

"How are you all getting in here... hmm?" He asked aloud as the sound of more guards could be heard, their boots echoing on the metal floor. A thick black cloud slowly took shape at his feet and billowed upward and outward before seeming to solidify into an inky black mass that covered everything in the area around him. His vision remained perfect, if not altering somewhat. Everything was black, the air, the floor, the ceiling, but all objects like people, the cargo containers, and the catwalks above, all possessed a flickering outline of deep purple.

By target himself as the point of origin for his enshrouding powers, the thick inky darkness moved with him and consumed more of the storage area with every step he took as he moved towards the on coming security detail.

As the first soldier rounded the corner into the open combat area and touched the inky darkness a fearsome chill washed over him and he felt the touch darkness grip his soul. Everyone including him stepped back as far as they could and opened up with their firearms.

Gun fire ripped through the shroud in a feeble attempt to hit whatever nightmare lurked within. Shot after shot left a rippling outline before being lost in the sea of bone chilling oblivion. In the brief pause to allow the smoke to clear the area of black remained and the sounds of several automatic weapons could be heard within being cocked, locked and ready to be fired.

Bullets rained from the darkness ripping into the force of soldiers. Sprays blood and cries of pain quickly filled the chamber as another squad of ten men were gunned down. The darkness lifted and seven shadowy duplicates of the security force stood there holding the firearms of the man who had fallen before them.

"Death to all that lives, destruction to all that has form and substance." was the only command the Black Demon gave to his servants of shadow. With those words they picked up a fresh magazine, prepped the sub machine gun again and they silently walked forward.

The Shadow walked to a bulkhead as single gun shots rose thundered through the chamber, his servants seeing to it that each soldier was indeed dead, even if that meant executing.

His eyes narrowed and he took a moment to ponder exactly how many crew members they could have left aboard this ship.

"Master!" a voice snapped him from his thoughts. One of his servants was standing in front of the bulkhead and saluting him. "We've killed them, except the guy that looked us, we're taking turns stomping on his face."

"And I give a shit... why? He asked.

"Something wrong? We're killing and maiming, and spreading all around bad cheer." His shadow soldier tried to cheer him up. "Buck up, we're having a blast!"

"I know, it's just I'm almost positive this door leads out and up to the surface where we can escape. I want to leave," his hands motioned over to one side, the side where he wanted to leave, then over to the other side. "But I'm also having to much fun... you see? I'm torn.

"Oh, that is a toughy..."

"You're me, in a sense. In your professional opinion, what do you think?" He asked, a look of valid concern on his shadowy features.

"Well..." the shadowy form wavered and shifted in appearance, to resemble an exact clone of Shadow Revenant, but in a suit and pair a Freudian spectacles. "In my professional opinion, you're a complete lunatic." He said in terrible Austrian accent.

The Shadow quirked an eyebrow. "Yes, well in my professional opinion," he raised his foot up and slammed it into the shadow clones chest. It lurched backward tearing the bulkhead open and off its hinges and sending the dark body and the ovular mass of steel careening down the passageway beyond. "Fuck off and die."

The shadow clones wisps away back into nothingness as he stepped through the doorway and proceeded ascend the stairs.