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reposted: The Origin of the DarkHwk Tuesday, 01-Feb-2000 15:52:58
Zane's android alter-ego has snapped; destroying everything in sight. The power has gone to head and he doesn't care about anything anymore. All he wants is power and nothing else matters. Then the killing begins. There's slaughter everywhere, people dying, and it's all by his hands. All this carnage because Zane can't stop himself. "Absolute power...." "AHHHH," Zane awakes, screaming from his reoccurring nightmare again, sweaty and breathing heavily. "It's just a dream, it's not real. It hasn't happened--just a dream." As his eyes adjust to the darkness, he glances over at the clock: 3:36 A.M. This same dream has been plaguing him every night for the past week. Tossing and turning in bed, Zane glances over at the weird diamond-like "amulet" resting on the nightstand by his bed. "Crap," he thinks almost aloud, "It's not a dream, it's---real. I CAN change into that thing." Rolling over onto his back, Zane stares at the ceiling, remebering the day it all started two weeks ago. That day's events replay in his mind.... Walking to his car from the grocery store with his arms full, Zane fumbles for his keys. The cool wind blows his long red-brown hair into face. Stopping to get it out of his eyes, his gaze catches a man slowly walking in the highway. "Hey, buddy! Watch out!" Zane screams at the man crossing the lanes. The man appears to be causasian, in his late forties, his short, brown hair slightly disheveled and his face sports a few days' beard growth. His gray trenchcoat shakes in the air currents generated by the passing cars, displaying various stains. There is a weird bulge in one of the pockets. This stranger is standing directly in one of the car lanes, the fast lane, his arms open wide. "Omigod!" Zane exclaims, realizing the truth; the man is not crossing the street, he wants to get hit by a car. In just a moment, the man will get his wish; a diesel truck is headed directly towards him. The driver, panicking, slams on the brakes. The wheels lock, the rubber of the tires marring the road with an ungoddly screeching. In a matter of moments, the truck will hit the stranger in the road. Without another thought and dropping his groceries, Zane runs towards the man, jumping and knocking the man out of the way onto the highway's shoulder just before the diesel was fated to slam into him. After the truck comes to a complete stop about fifteen feet past them, the driver emerges screaming, "What're you doing ya #?*@!@# idiot. Stay out of the @#$*$# road!!" The driver is a big man weighing over 250 lbs. with a full beard, wearing plaid and a red cap. "Aw lay off it, man. This guy needs help. So either help me or get going," Zane yells back. "Oh, I'll help you alright, @$$#*#*," the man says sarcastically, poppin ghis knuckles. Zane's mind races, "Aw crap! There I go shooting my mouth off again and now this guy and me are gonna get pounded by Paul Bunyan. Can this get any worse? " Just when it appears the angry driver is about come at Zane, he pauses. "Aw--forget it!! I don't have time for this $###. I got a deadline to make," the man yells back. He grumbles under his breath as he gets back into his diesel and speeds away. "Wheww," Zane says, breathing a sigh or relief. "You okay," Zane asks turning to the stranger. "Are you injured? Do you need help?" Looking closer, he sees that the man has been muttering something the whole time but can only make out part of it, "...comin' for me...gotta get away...gotta hide the amulet...." "You okay," Zane repeats. "Buddy?" As he reaches for the man's shoulder, immediately the man emerges from his dazed state and looks up at Zane with old, tired eyes. "You have no idea what you've done, young man--no idea," he says in a dry, raspy voice, reeking of alcohol. "But you're heart is in the right place." The glimmer of a smile appears on the man's face as he continues, "Here--take this in return for your kindness." The man reaches into one of the trenchcoat pockets and pulls out a dark, diamond-like object so large it barely fits in his hand. "Just remember, Son, the power's got to be used--not abused--by a DarkHwk. Beware its curse," the mans says as he places the object into Zane's hand. Dumbfounded, Zane stands there, staring at the object. He hears the man say in a muffled voice, "At least now HE won't get the amulet when he comes for me. At least it's safe. Maybe that kid can use it right..." the man's voice trails off. Looking up, Zane asks, "Power? DarkHwk?" But the man is nowhere to be seen. "The guy couldn't have just vanished, could he," Zane asks himself. "Weird." Puzzled, Zane heads back across the street during a break in traffic back to his car. The brown paper sacks are tumped over; his groceries lay sprawled out on the ground. His mind, still on the events of moments ago, tries to make sense of what just happened. "Power? What did he say about power?" While Zane stands there thinking, there is a blinding flash of blue light. "What in the...," Zane says aloud, looking around, in a distorted voice. "What happened to my voice?" Out of the corner of his eye, Zane sees a weird image reflected in his car window. The strange diamond-like object is imbedded in the figure's midchest. "What is that!" Zane exclaims. He moves his hand and the image responds in kind. "Omigod!! That's me! What happened to me? What am I going to do? I wish I was normal again," Zane says. The blue light flashes again, leaving Zane gazing at himself again, holding sstrange object in his hand, just like before. "Whoa! This is so weird," he says, glancing around to see if anyone noticed his transformation. Since no one was staring or running off in terror, Zane figured that no one saw what had happened. Zane bent down, picked up his groceries and quickly headed home. It's 4:25 and Zane is still troubled by choices. It has been two weeks. The first couple of days Zane went out and experimented, finding the "DarkHwk" form has special abilities, and having fun. But as the days progressed, his thoughts turned to how far things could go with such power. His thoughts kept turning to the phrase 'Absolute power corrupts absolutely.' "Aw, man, what am I gonna do with this thing," Zane asks himself, sitting up in bed, cupping his face in his hands. His eyes again turn to the amulet. "With that 'amulet' I can change into this 'DarkHwk' and do some really cool things, like fly--oh man, I've always wanted to be able to do that--, and fire some kind of energy blasts from it. But the longer I stay as 'DarkHwk,' the more I lose myself in the power. So what I need to do is limit the use; only use this thing in emergencies. By limiting my usage, I think I can maintain control. Just use it sparingly, yeah that's it." Comforted by his own words at long last, and completely fatigued, Zane falls fast asleep. His nightly ritual is complete once more. Perhaps his fear of power will keep him from crossing the line. Yet as he sleeps, the amulet glistens, glows, almost beckons in the faint moonlight coming in through the window. Perhaps not. Only time will tell.... DarkHwk, angry at stupid underlining html code |
| The Happy Historian - a few research questions (The quest for trivia goes on from... the Hooded Hood) (31-Jan-2000 14:35:42) |
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