___________________________________________________________________________ //|| //^^\\ || || .|. COHERENT COMICS UNINCORPORATED PRESENTS // || \\ || || --X--------------------------------------------- //======================= '|` ASH UNIVERSE: RACC Presents // || \\ || || "Justice" // || \\__// || || Copyright 1999 by Dave Van Domelen ___________________________________________________________________________ [2024] Colin Shaw stumbled through the Black Forest, trying to get as far from the so-called "Parabahn" as he could. He'd pissed off the wrong Vogue-ghoul once too often since arriving on the Continent, and now he was as good as dead if he couldn't find a good hiding place. Or a weapon. A weapon would be nice. His own paranormal powers of microwave generation were almost useless in a fight unless he had something metal in his hands. Then he could make it spark, like a fork left in the microwave oven. Hence his tag of "Sparker." Right now, though, that spark was about to be snuffed if he couldn't get away from the roads before someone found his ditched motorcycle. [1994] Sofie Rasch stumbled through the Black Forest, trying to get away from the autobahn and the sweep of police running up and down it. She was nobody, just another junkie soon-to-be-ex-college student who happened to be at the roadside party. She didn't even *know* anyone there except Heinrik, and he was a nobody too, no matter what he said to try and impress her. She was getting cold, her buzz was wearing off, and a dim corner of her mind said she'd be dead by dawn if she didn't find shelter. Presuming the police didn't send out dogs into the forest. Dim moonlight splashed here and there across her path, turning alternately into fairy sparkles and police flashlights in her drug-hazed mind. [2024] Colin had one advantage...none of der Zepters, the gang he'd gotten on his bad side, were trackers or fliers. They'd have to ditch their bikes and follow on foot under the moonless sky, and it was starting to snow. If he could find a place to go to ground soon, his tracks might be totally erased before any of the Vogue-ghouls could find him. Cold wouldn't be a problem, since he could always make his own heat. He almost fell into the cave before he spotted it in the beam of his pocket torch. Risking a quick shine of the light around the cave mouth, he saw there was a serious overhang of snow at the entrance. If he could get far enough back and then drop the overhang, he could hole up for a day or two and not be found. He'd done without food for a couple days at a time back in the old neighborhood, when he was on the run from his father. And der Zepters were slightly less terrifying. [1994] Vaguely, a part of Sofie's mind noted that at least there was no snow to leave footprints in, it had been a relatively dry winter thanks to the disruption of weather patterns last year...some superhero thing. On the other hand, the dogs would have an easy time. Cold...so cold. The three beers she'd downed were wearing off, and she was starting to feel the wind cut into her ragged jacket. She needed to find shelter, any shelter. Darkness loomed before her. She staggered back, at first uncertain if it was real, or some kind of hallucination. Blinking, she realized it was a cave of some kind. It might not be warm, but at least she'd be out of the wind. And right now, the cold was so vicious that the idea she'd be trapped if the police came around never entered her mind. [2024] The cave was deep, deeper than he'd expected. Colin dropped the snowy overhang without trouble, and was gratified to see the entire mouth of the cave buried. He could melt his way out in a few minutes if he needed to, after all. With the entry safely covered, Colin turned his torch back on and started to probe the depths of the cave. It was just possible someone had used this place to hide stuff, and whatever the stuff was might be useful. Especially if it was food, or weapons. Contraband would be nice, too, but he'd have to defend it to get any good from it. Deeper he explored. This was definitely dug out by someone, it was way too deep to be naturally occurring in this kind of countryside. Then, suddenly, the tunnel opened out into a middling-large cavern. In the center was a pedestal, and on that rested a large axe. Colin lunged forward. A weapon was a weapon, and a metal blade meant he could toss some sparks if der Zepters did find him. His brain only barely registered a greenish glow around the meter-long curved blade of the tremendous axe as he reached for the leather-wrapped haft.... [1994] Sofie stumbled blindly through the cave. She thought she had a cigarette lighter in her pocket, but either she'd dropped it or her hands were too numb to feel it in there. The wind was gone, but blind impulse ran Sofie's legs now, and she kept moving forward, leaning against the tunnel wall for support. The wall vanished, and Sofie crashed to a hard stone floor, letting out a gasp that was more surprise than pain. She saw a faint greenish glow and shook her head to try and clear her senses. The glow remained, and Sofie wobbled to her feet. Her eyes were starting to adjust to the darkness of the cavern, and she could just make out that the glow came from something resting a few meters away, at stomach level for her. She unsteadily made her way over, lacking anything better to do. Then she saw the axe, and bit her lip to suppress a cry of surprise. It was the axe of Rechtigkeit...Justice...Germany's patriotic hero! He'd retired almost a decade ago, then been murdered by his own son last year, but she remembered seeing him on the news almost every night when she was a girl. She'd even seen him in public once, as he towered over everyone else at the podium...some fair or something. He'd held the axe like it was a hatchet, but it was nearly as long as Sofie was tall. The blade glowed with a faint green hue, just enough that she could see her hands as she slowly reached out to touch it. And then a voice whispered in her mind.... [2024] And then a voice whispered in his mind.... [both] "Arise, warrior for justice. Be cleansed, body and soul, and go out to bring the light of Rechtigkeit to the world!" [1994] Sofie shuddered and leaned over. She felt like she was going to vomit, scream and explode all at the same time. It was like she felt when she went too long without a fix...but a hundred times worse and all at once. Then it was over. Sofie stood up again, holding the axe lightly in her hands. She was no giant like Rechtigkeit...the original...was, but she felt strong enough to swing the axe as if it were a tennis racket. Somehow, she knew that she was no longer hooked on heroin, meth or cocaine. More importantly, with the constant haze lifted from her brain, she knew exactly who she'd seen at that party that the police must be after. And she'd find him first. Rechtigkeit had returned to Germany. [2024] Colin felt like his eyeballs were going to launch across the room, like all the Jaz he'd ever taken was shooting out through his tear ducts at once. The pangs of hunger he'd been starting to feel were gone, and he felt like he could take der Zepter on all by himself. Moreover, he felt like he *should*. That stunted little thing in the corner of his soul called a conscience seemed to have muscled its way to the front of his brain and was giving the orders for the first time in Colin's miserable life. Tentatively, he put the axe back down...but the feeling stayed. Grinning, he picked up the weapon again. No whispering voice this time, if you didn't count the loud screaming of his long-silent conscience. He concentrated on the blade of the axe, focusing his power into it. The cavern lit up a brilliant bluish white as a lightning bolt snapped from the blade to strike the wall, blasting loose a few chunks of rock. And he'd barely been trying! Colin ripped the Vogue-ghoul patch from his jacket and tossed it to the floor, incinerating it with another massive spark. He wouldn't need it, or the free passage it brought on the autobahn. Not the Parabahn, he thought grimly to himself. "Guess I'm not just a Sparker anymore," he mused aloud. "More like lightning. What was it in that old comic book? Justice, like lightning? I guess they can call me Justice now...." ============================================================================ Notes: Der Zepter and the Parabahn name created by Tony Pi. That old comic book created by Kurt Busiek. The rest created by Dave Van Domelen.