Baron Knight

by Jason Krate

  "And I was about to have my twelfth orgasm!" Mia Deathborne snapped as well, "we're trying to procreate now that we have full control of the city so piss off!"

  "Shut your fucking mouths or I'll make sure you both end up doing the doggy for the rest of your life by believing you two are dogs. Powerful you two may be, I'm the Mastermind of your empire. I can give and I can take it away. Now pay attention!" Mastermind snapped, "I want you two to get dressed and meet me down at the audience chamber for 'The Pit'. We've got a problem…a really big problem. One that might be a threat to our dominion over…."

  He then tripped over something in the middle of the room, he looked down to see the naked body of that very same prostitute woman he had hypnotized weeks ago during the coup.

  He didn't have to look much to tell that she was dead.

  And from the state of her sex organs, and her neck he didn't have to imagine how the hypnotized sex slave had died at the hands of the Deathborne Siblings.

  Shame…he had enjoyed her body when he hadn't grown tired of her, before sending her to the Deathborne's to use whenever they wanted to 'share their pleasurable company' if they were ever in the mood for a threesome.

  "Don't you two ever not break any of your toys?" Mastermind II asked snarkily, rolling his eyes in disgust as he closed the door on them.

  * * *

  Mastermind II furiously waited for the Deathborne siblings to get dressed and appear before him in the audience chamber of "The Pit".

  Once they had arrived, Denth Deathborne was the first to speak "Alright, the king and Queen of Brightmoon are here…so what's the big problem you're so worried about?"

  "Last night as you know, someone killed two of our army's highest lieutenants. Bone Breaker and Silencer..." Mastermind II began, "Mourne survived. He said it was an unknown figure. He never saw him, just heard him. Whoever he was, he was smart enough to know that Silencer's gas was flammable…something we didn't even know about. Now…this wasn't enough to give me anything to work on or give me a reason to be worried about anything regarding dealing with our unknown metahuman intruder in our kingdom."

  He then looked right at the clearly bored and uninterested Deathborne siblings, "then one little piece of information came off from the streets themselves to me directly. A pimp who had a firsthand encounter with the intruder, who lost his balls to him…told me key details. That it was a masked man with glowing red eyes like a demon, wearing a black coat and hat…and he had a laugh. One that could make your blood freeze. According to him, all the guy did was snap his fingers, and like that he was neutered. It was when this pimp told me that this Metahuman appeared and vanished through some kind of portal made out of darkness and seemed to be made out of darkness, like a living shadow…that's when the red light of alarm went off."

  He reached into the folds of his cloaked robe, and pulled out a book.

  "As you are undoubtedly aware, I got my powers from my father. Once upon a time, in the 'old world' as they call it now. He was a power player in the city, very much like I am today. He used his powers to cull the masses, terrorize the sheep and make people do what he wanted…well…before he lost his teeth that is and became a senile mongrel who only wants to right the so called wrongs he did when he was a god among mortals." Mastermind II spat in contempt, "but back in his day, my father had an enemy. Someone who was immune to his powers and his 'intellectual equal and sparring partner' as he put it. A metahuman who like my father of today had equally embraced the weakness known as 'altruism' and became a hero. This guy, my father never shut up about him. He always told me stories about him. No one has seen him in years, but he had been said to have died in the Great Massacre years ago with the rest of the so called Heroes Legion. So imagine my surprise when I haul this pimp down to my father's library and show him a newspaper clipping that my father has in his saved collection of books and newspapers in that library…in THIS book to be exact…and the pimp says the oddest thing imaginable."

  "Which is?" Denth Deathborne asked with an inquiring eyebrow raised.

  "That this is the guy he saw…" Mastermind II answered, opening up the book in his hand which was a scrapbook of newspaper articles, "this exact guy….right here."

  He handed the book to Denth Deathborne who held it up so Muara could see it as well.

  The looked at the newspaper article clip showcasing a strange figure clad in a black cloak and hat, with a strange and intimidating metal mask that covered his head and two glowing red eyes staring out from the glaring eyeholes.

  They read what the article said, "Baron Knight seen during police raid to save hostages".

  They then read the other article headliners.

  "Baron Knight: Hero, or Vigilante Menace to our city" said one written by some bitch called Beatrice Fuller.

  "City Hall calls Manhunt for Shadowy Vigilante" said another.

  "City opinions divided on metahuman Vigilante" an article from a different newspaper company in Old World Brightmoon City said in italic font.

  "Mysterious Shadow revealed to be a punishment from God" said another article clearly written by a tabloid newspaper.

  "Rapist severely injured, Victim claims a 'living shadow' saved her" the last article on the open page declared.

  "So what you're saying is that you think one of the old heroes survived the Great Massacre?" Muara Deathborne asked incredulously, "that's impossible…they were all wiped out."

  " Apparently not ALL of them….what I am saying is that it's quite possible that the Baron Knight not only survived somehow but also that he has returned" Mastermind II corrected, "and on top of that he is for some reason coming after the Sadistic Five AND possibly us as well."

  "What are we supposed to be worried about?" Denth Deathborne sneered arrogantly, "If he is who you say he is, he's no doubt an old grizzled man by now. He's no physical threat to us."

  "We have two dead members of or elite kill squad and a squadron of wrecked assault drones at the border of Lost Hallowing that say otherwise" Mastermind II countered.

  "What?" the Deathborne siblings said in shocked unison.

  This was information that hadn't been brought to their attention till now.

  "Yeah…" Mastermind said with a scoff, "our security drones ran into him, and he tore them apart."

  "That's unbelievable" Muara Deathborne said incredulously, "it should have been them tearing HIM apart!"

  "That's not the worst part about it" Mastermind II continued, "Baron Knight mostly operated at night, and rarely in the daytime. Because nighttime was when his element was all around him. Once night falls again, no place in Brightmoon will be a safe place to hide from him. He knows this…that's why we haven't been hearing reports of more attacks today in the current day hours."

  * * *

  The fear in the Deathborne Sibling's eyes when he had told them this, showed Mastermind II that he had succeeded in getting these two to understand the severity of the situation.

  Baron Knight may be an old hat, but against his powers at nighttime he was still a force to be reckoned with...he could appear behind them and they wouldn't see it coming until it was too late.

  Just like Bone Breaker and Silencer.

  "We can't ignore this 'old man' and his presence in our city. It would be suicide to our rule over the city if we did so. We need to find this man before he finds us" Mastermind II explained his logic, "The good news is however he probably doesn't know about me or you two's superpowers. So we have that card in our favor. Now…I want you to send a message out on our communications channel I built for our army. I need you call in all the remaining Sadistic Five members now. Only they can give us an idea on why it is that the Baron Knight has returned now of all times he could have returned if he had been alive all this time."

  "What makes you think they will know anything that can help us against this guy?" Denth Deathborne asked.

  "He's not hunting them for no reason" Mastermind II answered, looking out a nearby window at the ruins of Bri
ghtmoon City in the far background of the abandoned refinery, "he never went out and did things for no good reason. They obviously did something to piss him off…we need to find out what. Maybe if we're lucky we could use whatever it is to our advantage. Until then, it will be safer for all of us to stay here in the refinery. This is the heart of our power over the city, the source of Brightmoon City's newfound and restored electricity. Our 'living Battery' will give us all the protection we will need against him."

  "Why do you sound so sure about that?" Denth Deathborne asked, "If what you say is true about him and his power, come nightfall it's open season and were ducks sitting on the pond waiting to be shot!"

  "Because I know some of his weaknesses, my father taught me about them in his stories before I became the new Mastermind to succeed him." Mastermind II smiled smugly, "one of which being that he can't 'shadow walk' himself through electrical fields…and this place is lined with them. If he comes here, he will be without his strongest power…and we will be here waiting for him when he does."

  As he looked out the window, pondering his next strategic move against this new foe.

  This hero from the past.

  Mastermind II couldn't help but dwell on something that had been bothering him since he raided his father's library with that whimpering pimp in tow.

  His father loved that library, he was its self-proclaimed guardian.

  He would never leave it.

  So where had his parents run off too, and why?

  Did they have something to do with this?

  Did they set the Baron Knight in his direction?

  What did he care about them and their condition anyway, he had outgrown them and their high and might morals of what was right and wrong concerning power and mind manipulation.

  But if he found out that they had betrayed him and his regime, they had better be dead when he met up with them again.

  * * *

  ST Charles Cathedral: October 8th, 2063: 1:50 PM

  While Baron Knight had been recovering, Rachel Addison had left from the Cathedral and returned to her apartment.

  She had now returned to the Cathedral.

  Rachel Addison currently was kneeling in prayer before the statue of the Virgin Mary, with her mother's old rosary necklace clenched in her hands.

  She was so deep in her prayer, she didn't even know Baron Knight was there watching her until he spoke.

  "What are you doing here?" he asked, "I thought you went to go be with your daughter."

  "Please leave me alone…" she said to him, "I'm trying to pray…"

  "Pray? How very interesting" Baron Knight said, leaning against the stone pillar looking down at her "a prostitute who is also a Christian…praying…but praying for what I wonder? You seem to know that old priest very well. You must be a regular church goer. Most prostitutes avoid holy places, reminds them of their guilt and hypocrisy. I mean…You are undoubtedly aware of what HE thinks about promiscuity with men you're not married to no? It's one of his commandants that humanity treats as guidelines than as rules after all."

  Rachel Addison sighed in annoyance, "Yes…I am very well aware of that Baron Knight."

  "Then why do you pray to him?" Baron Knight asked, "Hmmm? Do you think he's really up there listening to prayers coming from a…" he stopped before he could say 'whore' and changed the word "woman…such as yourself?"

  "Yes I do" Rebeca Addison answered, "and I have a very good reason to believe he understands, forgives me for no fault of my own for being a reluctant whore and is listening…doing what he can to help us as long as we can help ourselves."

  "Which would be what? What's your reason for still believing in such things?" Baron Knight scoffed.

  "Because I know, he loves his children…just like I love my daughter. Like any parent should." Rachel Addison, "he would understand that I am forced to fuck men to keep my daughters stomach filled…"

  Baron Knight laughed.

  "You may not believe in God…" Rachel Addison began, but was interrupted by Baron Knights powerful dark voice.

  It was laughing.

  She didn't respond.

  She waited till he was done laughing, because she knew he obviously had something to say.

  She had been there when he had done similar speeches to certain members of the Sadistic Five.

  "You think a man can survive being dosed in an acidic mutagenic chemical and not believe? You think he can see his sisters vandalized and murdered by a lunatic with a knife and gun, come out unscathed, broken but still sane and not believe? You think he can love, have children, loose them all and spend the rest of his life alone and not believe? No…you have it all wrong Rachel. I believe in god. I believe he had a hand in my powers being bestowed to me, I believe he had a hand in my survival while all my loved ones perished…and I HATE him for that!"

  "Job went through worse, he never gave up on humanity or God's love Baron Knight" Rachel said sternly, standing her ground, "Don't speak ill of things you have no solid ground to stand on knight. Just because you don't love him doesn't mean he doesn't love you."

  "He doesn't and I am not Job" Baron Knight scowled, "I don't blindly follow a deity who allowed the worst to happen to the world, who professes to say he loves all his children and allows them to kill one another…Turing his garden into a wilderness."

  "Then that is our fault and not his" Rachel Addison said, stopping her praying to stand up to face Baron Knight, her face was calm but he could sense a protective fury coming from her voice "if your so called tale about what really happened to cause the Old World to end is to be believed."

  "You still don't believe me?" Baron Knight asked incredulously, "I was there…"

  "So were my parents" Rachel countered.

  "Your parents were fools who believed what they wanted to believe and saw what they wanted to see…dead metahumans meant nothing to them, or the means of how they got killed so long as they did. I knew their kind, very well."

  "Their kind?" Rachel Addison asked with an offended look on her fact.

  "Yeah…their kind. I refuse to mix the ignorant with the bigots in the guilty party that is the human race" Baron Knight answered.

  "You have any idea how hypocritical that sounds when you keep on saying Metahumans are no different than the rest of humanity's non powered citizens?" Rachel asked him smartly.

  "Not as hypocritical as Gods unbiased, unprejudiced, unconditional love for all of us, a right he never gave me at all." Baron Knight countered.

  "His love for us is unconditional Knight, for every one of us. Criminals, whores, even you." Rachel insisted.

  "Wrong." Baron Knight snapped, causing Rachel to blink "I've NEVER been given that right. His love is not unconditional, unprejudiced, unbiased…and if it is, it isn't for me."

  "You're the one who is wrong" Rachel Addison said getting up in his face.

  "Oh am i?" Baron Knight said, his glowing red eyes glowing brighter than ever "then let me tell you of my experience with Gods love for me. I lost my sister to a maniac with a gun, while the other was raped and made barren by the same psycho. I did what I thought was right and became…THIS…to fight back against the very same darkness that YOU people have allowed to have free reign of the city again. I saved lives, I was a hero. Did the people thank me? No. They wanted my head on a pike. Their rabid cries for me to be 'brought to justice' for 'endangering the city' because I did what they wouldn't….I took a stand. They didn't care, they feared me because I wasn't 'human'…because I had powers. Now I would have been fine with that because the city was always mostly populated by bystander syndrome addled PINHEADS! Puppets who like to be pushed around where life and criminal forces put them in the sick little play called "life in the city". But then came the Bigots…like your parents. These paranoiacs thrived on fear of the 'other'…it used to be anyone human who was different from the other. Blacks against whites, whites against blacks, Japanese against Koreans all the same "Differences" that set them off. Sex, color, religion
, these people thrived on stirring anti-sentiment against the 'other' to make them feel powerful, important…safe. Then came us, the Metahumans. We could save a hundred cities, they would still want us dead. Three generations later, they succeeded. They did what all paranoid fools who want the power to defeat their enemies do. They created a weapon. One that ended up doing the job…and did it too well. 1 billion metahumans died among those were 32 metahumans known as The Heroes Legion, and also 123,000 humans died. Among those, were good men and women, human and metahuman? The worst offender of the atrocity, was an organization called S.T.R.I.K.E…they created the weapon that….that KILLED my family. The Heroes Legion, the world's mightiest superheroes…my wife, my children. There is a graveyard a half a mile away from the city do you know it? Every one of those graves I made for them. Everyone I know is there. My father, my mother, my wife, my sons and daughters….and I'm still here. I survived. Do you understand? I saw EVERYONE I have ever loved or cared about DIE at the hands of a weapon built by the actions of MEN and WOMEN your PARENTS supported. EVERYONE I HAVE EVER LOVED IS DEAD! DEAD!...Dead and buried. I'm still here…alone…."