The Negative Man_Legends Can Die

by Jeremy Croston

“I met a man who said he’d help take away the pain, for a price.” Kim lifted up his hands and closed them into a fist. Out of his knuckles rose three inch spikes, the same sort of things Chief Woods had said. “He promised me power, but all he’s done is turn me into his own agent of death.”

  “We can get you help!” My hand was about ready to pull the door and make my escape.”

  “There’s no help for me, father; Kim Krummel is dead. All I am now is Abaddon, the Ravager.”

  Issue #14 –

  Under Fire

  As the wall encroached towards me, one of my cell bombs was sucked into it. The moment it reached its pinnacle, ready to break and fall down, the phone went off sending sand everywhere. Both of them looked on in shock that their combined efforts were so easily cast aside.

  “That may have worked on another super, but you forget who taught me.” It was my turn to light things up. “He’s probably the same man who made you hide out here, in Indian Point, rather than help The Dark Lion at any point.” I whipped one of my little explosives at them. Sandstorm tackled Dust Devil to the ground, avoiding the explosions, but not the rubble that fell.

  Dust Devil was able to shake free of the brick and mortar, but Sandstorm was stuck. Dust Devil rocketed her hands up into the air and all the sand that was lying around us rose with them. I couldn’t see her through all the particles of sand blowing around, so I did the logical thing, I took shelter in the loading dock.

  This distraction was obviously put in place to keep me pinned down while she freed her step-father. I had two choices; let them work themselves free or try to navigate the sand and find them. Fortune favors the bold, so I flipped down my new goggles, hoping they’d keep the sand out of my eyes.

  I found my way to the brick wall of the adjacent building to the museum. I inched around it and I felt the first signs of an explosion impact. The loose brick and chunks missing told me I was really close to Sandstorm and Dust Devil. I unhooked the next phone and lightly tossed it into the sand cloud. I dove out of the way and let it go.

  I heard two distinct screams and all the sand fell back to the ground, clearing up my vision. My bomb had been pretty close to target; Sandstorm was no longer under rubble, but his limp body was sitting at an odd angle on the ground. A few feet over, Dust Devil was looking concussed. Her eyes were completely unfocused and she couldn’t even push herself up.

  I unhooked another bomb. I was planning on putting an end to both of them, if Sandstorm wasn’t dead anyways, but from behind me, I heard Zed yell. “We’ve got to get moving! The cops are on their way!”

  Civilian police didn’t scare me. “I’m so close to killing these two. Give me just a minute.”

  “We’re leaving, one way or the other. If you want to save your boyfriend with our help, I suggest you follow.”

  Jericho. He was the real reason I was here. I gave one last hateful glance at the two pathetic supers and congratulated them on surviving another day. “It’s a shame I won’t be able to finish what I started. Maybe one day…”

  I followed the Fatal Five out and back to the van. Zeke was holding a large sack that must have had the Desert Diamond inside. As the van door shut, Zed fired up the ignition and slammed on the gas. It struck me as odd why they were ready to run instead of fight the police.

  Finding a spot in the passenger seat, “We could just kill all of them, you know?”

  “Under normal circumstances, yeah that’s the plan.” Zed turned down the next street and kept the pace up. “But we heard something over the scanner that I doubt even we can handle.”

  This piqued my curiosity. “What could the police have here that makes fleeing the best alternative?”

  His eyes never left the road, even as he told me. “I heard a cop ask the chief if he should activate Alpha, the Indian Point version of Titan. The same damn nightmare that your old city used against supers.”

  My blood went cold – Titan, better known as Diana Krummel, was a super that actually genetically changed when her powers were activated. “Are you completely sure?”

  From the cargo area, “Zed,” I think it was Zane. “We have a very high energy reading coming in hot.”

  Zed pushed the accelerator down as far as it would go. “I think we’re about to find out.”

  Another Titan… this wasn’t good.

  Issue #15 –

  Alpha Omega

  The sound was that of an airplane landing. The metallic creature landed directly in front of us, causing Zed to slam on the brakes before we slammed into it. In a red and gold armored suit, Alpha was standing in front of us with its arms raised and blasters pointed at Zed and myself.

  In a cold, hollow voice, “You are all under arrest. Resistance will not work.”

  I wasn’t about to be taken in by some freak of nature. “C’mon Zed, we can take this thing.”

  “Fatal Five, you heard her!” All five brothers hopped out of the van and, even before I could join them, had transformed into their giant single entity.

  No matter how many times I’d see it, their combined form was still hard to take in. Facial features and the occasion limb would jut out from time to time. It was like a swirling vortex, an incomplete painting. The raw power of the form though, that was a sight to behold. A massive hand smashed down on to Alpha as it tried to fire off the first shot. The armored cop had to abandon that plan and fight back. You could hear its gears working overtime to fight back against their power of five.

  This gave me a chance to strike. A well-placed phone right under the ribs went off and knocked Alpha down. Prone, the Fatal Five monster formed a fist and began to punch Alpha over and over again. It was hard to tell if they were making any headway, but I didn’t think this form responded well to reason.

  On the fifth punch, Alpha fought back. It met the oversized fist with its own two and pushed back. It didn’t stop pushing until it returned to its feet and forced the Fatal Five to break away. I hadn’t expected that. Neither did the Fatal Five, either. Alpha, making the most of the situation, grabbed its blaster and fired two shots into the monster.

  Once again, I was the forgotten player on the field. Just like when I was with Jericho, everyone assumed I wasn’t the dangerous one. Whether it was because I’m a woman or maybe my slender physique, no one gave me respect. Well Alpha was about to learn the follies in that, yet again.

  Jericho always preached to me let my skills evolve. He was in the middle of teaching me what all I could do with them when I lost him to Black Lagoon and The Morning Lynx. I’d been neglectful in reaching my full operating capacity. Against a foe like Alpha, this was the perfect place to remember my old lessons.

  He always told me that one’s true power was located in a person’s deepest subconscious, a place people can rarely tap into on purpose. As Alpha turned his gun towards me, I looked inside to see what my body was hiding. An exploding cell phone wasn’t the answer to stopping him. Then, like a beacon in the night, the answer came to me as the gun powered up.

  Through my almost telekinetic link to the phones around me, I picked up six different signals, two from me, three from the Fatal Five, and a deactivated one coming from Alpha. Instead of causing them to explode (the activated ones, that is), a new energy came from them.

  All six phones immediately came to me, like I was a magnet for them. Blue arcs of electricity formed between them as they encircled me. The arcs, which reminded me of Jericho’s negative energy, formed a circular web around me as the phones rotated clockwise. Alpha’s blasts were absorbed into the new shield, a power that I never anticipated in having.

  It wasn’t just their absorption properties either that made this dome of electricity amazing. Instinct told me there were offensive capabilities as well. As the energy surrounded me, I directed it to issue blasts at Alpha. When I did, the phones would light up and fire direct bursts of this energy at the creature. Over and over again I blasted it until it fell to one knee. The red and gold armor was smoking and Alpha never saw the end
as the Fatal Five grabbed it on both sides and crushed it like a tin can.

  The one thing I couldn’t help but notice was the difference in power from Titan to Alpha. Alpha could hold its own, for sure, but it wasn’t even close to the levels Titan was. It was a perfect replica, just a weaker version of the original.

  As Alpha died, it morphed back into a cop, blue uniform and all. With the threat over, the real question from this encounter needed to be answered: how was it possible for this mutation to be had by a second person?

  From my understanding, every super’s powers were different – some were similar but never a perfect match. Like DNA, we each had our own markers, and they were never the same, never a direct copy…

  Until now.

  Issue #16 –

  Never Say Never

  Indian Point was behind us. The bad taste about Alpha was still lingering in my mouth. Just how did another freak like Titan exist? Once I broke Jericho out of Black Lagoon, that would have to be our number one priority.

  The Fatal Five was celebrating their score. The Desert Diamond was a huge rock, that was for sure. I have to say I was surprised by the sheer size of it. It was currently sitting inside a well-protected crate with four of the brothers standing guard around it in the back of the van.

  Zed couldn’t contain his enthusiasm. “We are set for life, brother. After everything we’ve done, what a way to retire!”

  Sure this thing was worth a lot of money, but how would they liquidate it to gain assets? “What are you going to do with it? It won’t be long before the Desert Diamond is listed as stolen and hot property.”

  “Here, yes. Now my fence across the pond…” His eye slit up. “That man works magic. We’ll have millions by the end of the week.”

  Of course, that made sense. As I was thinking about that, I didn’t even notice that the wind was beginning to pick up. It wasn’t until Zed lost control of the wheel that it brought me back into the present. “What’s going on?”

  “I don’t know where this wind storm came from.”

  I did. “Stop the vehicle.” It seemed a certain teenage girl had figured out where we were going and was waiting for us. Zed slammed the brake and stopped the van. As I opened the passenger side door, “You stay here. This is my business.”

  I got no complaints and I dropped down to the sandy ground that jutted up against the highway. Across from me, no more than fifty feet, was Dust Devil. As soon as I was free of the van, she took off in a wind aided sprint towards me. This little girl was going to get a very hard lesson in superiority.

  I had to hold myself steady against the oncoming wind. As Dust Devil came into range, I grabbed her by the arm and slammed her into the van. It was even more satisfying because I’d been able to use her own wind against her. The van rocked back and forth a bit, but only a small dent showed up. She fell down, crumbling upon impact.

  “Oh I hope you can do much better than that.”

  She picked herself up and dusted the sand off her uniform. “I will kill you.”

  Words only got a person so far. “Your boyfriend was nothing personal, just my way of showing how much control I have over each situation.”

  “You killed more than just my boyfriend… you killed Sandstorm!”

  Ohhh, so this righteous indignation was because her beloved step-father was dead. I actually got a chill down my spine, knowing the great Sandstorm was dead. “You two shouldn’t have gotten involved. You were both out of your league with me.”

  Wind whipped in the area again. “Good always triumphs over evil. And you’re as evil as they come, bitch.”

  It was going to be so hard to destroy her perfect little view of the world, but it had to be done. “Take it from me, there’s no such thing as good and evil. The things I could tell you about the great Dark Lion would make your skin crawl.” She closed her eyes as if that would stop her from hearing my words. “And not to mention the fact that The Negative Man killed him. So tell me sweetheart,” it was time to really twist the dagger, “where in your narrative do you still believe good triumphs over evil?”

  “In the narrative I’m writing…” That’s when she opened her jacket up and revealed she was wired with enough C-4 to level two or three city blocks. I never even noticed the dead man switch that was wrapped up in her left hand. “When good is willing to die for the greater cause, it will take evil with it.”

  Then she let go of the dead man’s switch…

  Issue #17 –

  The Missing Day

  When I came to, I was at the bottom of a very large crater, covered in debris. I had to push sand, dirt, and bits of the van off myself to get free. It was a painful journey out of the hole, but when I made it, I collapsed again on the desert.

  It was night out, so the cool air was refreshing against the exposed skin from my ruined outfit. My goggles that Jericho gave me were still intact on my head, but most of the rest of my custom uniform was in bad shape. As I looked around, I saw yellow police tape up all around the area. No officers were present, but it was clear an investigation was underway.

  I had to get out of here, quickly. The desert was unforgiving during the day and we weren’t that far from Indian Point. I made a tough decision that was going to take me further away from Jericho. I was heading back to Indian Point.

  The walk nearly killed me. It was still night when I entered the city limits and, through some careful back alley negotiating, found a small, well concealed corner to rest in. It was close to an Italian bakery, so before I wrapped myself up, I broke in the back and stole some baked goods. It wasn’t all that filling, but it would have to do.

  I don’t know when I fell asleep, but I was woken up by a stray cat licking my face. I shooed it away, but the sunlight breaking through made it impossible to fall back asleep. I put my hands on my head, not sure where to go from here. The best idea would be to wait it out as long as I could, hopefully until nightfall again.

  There were a few close calls during the day, but as night fell, I began to feel better and a bit more confident. With the darkness of the alley as my only ally, I left my hidden sanctuary and slowly made my way out into the city. My first priority was changing into some decent clothes.

  There was a group of college girls looking as if they were headed to a fancy dinner. Thinking quickly, I reached out and grabbed the last one, stealthily putting my hand over her mouth. “Stay quiet,” I whispered. “You do that and you won’t die tonight.”

  She looked like she was going to cry but she complied. I took her clothes and made her put on my old uniform. This solved two problems; one she’d be accused of being me and two, it would give me time to get my escape plan put together. Her jeans were a tad tight and the heels weren’t ideal for walking, but it was better than expected. Leaving the sobbing girl, I walked out onto the main street.

  What I really needed was a shower. There was a hotel along the main strip, right next to an electronics store. It’d be as good of a place as any to get my bearings together. As I passed the electronics store, the news was playing, so I stopped to listen.

  The older man on the crew was doing the reporting of the headlines. “As the second day of the desert explosion continues, the mysterious field blocking the crater has disappeared. Police are baffled as the investigation continues, and no official word has come out yet.”

  Wait, as the second day comes to an end? How long was I down there?!

  “If you have any information, police are asking you to please inform them. The bodies discovered so far match up with vigilante Dust Devil and members of the crew known as The Fatal Five…”

  I walked away, briskly. The Fatal Five were dead, I somehow survived, and apparently was out for over a day before coming to. And that’s not even considering a mysterious force field that had to be somehow connected to me. A shower could wait; this trip had been a disaster and I needed to get back to Pacific Station immediately.

  As luck would have it, a guy who was way too preoccupied with me
for his own good got out of a pretty nice sports car. This would be like taking candy from a baby…

  Issue #18 –

  A Father’s Choice

  **Father Reigart**

  I had sworn an oath. What was told to me in confession was never to be shared with anyone. It was a sacred meeting between priest, pupil, and the Lord. The real debate came for me was whether being in Kim’s truck was the same as being in the house of my Lord? What he told me there, would I be breaking my sacred oath if I went to the police and told them?

  And that’s how I ended up in Jericho’s room at Black Lagoon. No one else was here and the comatose man made for a great sounding board. Plus, no matter what anyone said, he had been an excellent friend, all things considered. “Jericho, the choices I’m facing, even you weren’t this difficult to deal with.”

  The only noises that responded to me were the beeps of the different machines hooked up to the former villain of Pacific Station. Every once in a blue moon, I’d spy what I thought was a movement from him only to convince myself it was a trick with the lighting or my eyes. I’d clean my glasses off and move on.

  Tonight was no different. Dr. Sanders was good about giving me these visits. He didn’t understand why I cared so much about a murderer and a fanatic, but those were my choices. I saw good in the man, just as I did with Kim. That brought me back to my present problem – it was obvious either powers manifested within Kim due to his trauma or this mysterious man he spoke of did something to him.

  Sighing, “If I keep this information to myself, more people will die.” And then his new name wormed its way into my mind. “He calls himself Abaddon, the Ravager.”

  There were numerous sources with thoughts and conjecture on the meaning of the name as it appeared in the Bible. I was under the impression that the name should be taken in its truest sense, the destroyer in Latin, as Abaddon was likely a fallen angel who brought death. His appearance coincides with a swarm of locusts.