thatwritergirlinred
Internal Conflict (A DCU One-Shot)
DISCLAIMER: THIS ISSUE CONTAINS GRAPHICALLY DEPICTED VIOLENCE. PROCEED WITH CAUTION
The year was 2006. Jason Blood sat in his Gotham City apartment during a stormy night, looking out a window at the harsh rain and bright flashes of lightning. His fingers rubbed across his smooth and hairless chin before, abruptly, a voice was heard in the back of his head. A familiar voice, that of his inner demon.
“Why are you just sitting in here? You should be out there, filling enemy’s hearts with fear!”
“Etrigan” Jason gasped, him and his chair falling backward into a nearby bookshelf. “I… I thought this nightmare was over” Jason quivered, standing back up with one hand clutching his bruised occiput.
“Ha! There’s no way you believe that lie. Etrigan is eternal, until you die!”
“You can quit it with the rhyming” growled Jason, his eyebrows furling.
“…Fine.”
“But… How are you back? Why is this happening, I don’t understand, I-…”
“This curse isn’t temporary, Blood.”
“I thought I at least bested you mentally… I was even in control of your body when battling Klarion last year, and again with Eldon Peck just a few months ago”
“I was still there, albeit silent and used. I could still see through clouded eyes… You know, back before Merlin bonded your soul with my own, I was a person. Demon, yes, but I thought, I spoke, I lived. You can’t expect me to obey your manipulation forever..!”
Jason was silent.
“…And they call ME a monster!” continued Etrigan.
“I’m sorry” said Jason
“…’Sorry’? ‘SORRY’?! THAT’S ALL YOU HAVE TO SAY!?” Etrigan roared.
Jason’s hand involuntarily clenched into a fist before hurling upward, landing a punch on his jaw. He fell backward, the top of his head colliding with the glass window as he grunted in discomfort.
“Wait… What did you say about Merlin?” Jason asked, slowly sitting back up.
“Huh?”
“Just a moment ago, you said something about Merlin bonding our souls together… Do you remember our past? Have you been keeping that from me?!”
“Do not antagonize me over this.”
“How could I not? Whenever you were in control, all you did was slaughter the innocent. If not for me striving so hard to take over permanently, all of Gotham and San Fransisco would be extinct. Not to mention you hiding away knowledge you apparently had about my history, something I have every right to know. There’s a reason the public eye sees you as a monster.”
“Shut up. Shut up! Shut up!!! SHUT UP!!!” Etrigan demanded.
Jason’s hand grew larger and yellowed, his fingernails growing into claws before uncontrollably and aggressively scratching over his own eye as he shrieked in agony. He bashed his head against the window behind him in attempts to free himself from Etrigan’s assault, causing the glass to crack slightly behind his head. His hand shifted back to its previous human state before he used it to clutch the now-blind eye, sobbing from the other optic.
“The public’s eye may see me as a monster, but now yours can’t” Etrgian insensitively joked.
“H-… how could you…” Jason whimpered.
“Oh please, spare me from your whining. You’re lucky all I gave you was a scratch.”
Jason stood up and turned himself back to the window, one hand still on his eye, the other pressed against the partially cracked glass. He looked at his feet as a bloodied tear drop fell from between the gaps in his fingers and noticeably splatted on a floorboard. He looked back up and out the window, both hands dropping to his sides. He stood in an almost defeated stance with dangling arms and limp shoulders, whilst in the glass he saw a false reflection that appeared as Etrigan staring back at him.
“You’re weak, Blood” said the reflection.
Jason’s hands clenched into fists and his shoulders tightened and his face scrunched up threateningly.
“GET OUT OF MY HEAD!!!” he cried, hurling his fists repeatedly at the glass until his knuckles bled and the window was completely shattered, shards crashing below like hail from the sky. He looked down at it. Due to all the blood loss, he felt lightheaded. Unbalanced. The empty window-frame stretched from floor to ceiling, so with little effort, he could easily fall. Which he did. But not in the direction he expected. He fell backward, merely onto the floorboards, completely avoiding a fatal drop. Though it was still enough to knock him unconscious.
He lied there for roughly 15 minutes, a small cup’s worth of blood leaking from his mouth before his eyes abruptly shot open.
“Change, change, o’ form of man. Release the might from fleshy mire. Boil the blood in the heart of fire. Gone, gone, o’ form of man. Release the demon… Etrigan” Etrigan chanted from Jason’s lips, causing him to change form. Now fully formed and standing, Etrigan said “Thank you, Blood, for tiring yourself out for me. Now I am in control, and I can finally be free..!” before animalistically charging forward and lunging through the window…
~Madam Web
Internal Conflict (A DCU One-Shot)
DISCLAIMER: THIS ISSUE CONTAINS GRAPHICALLY DEPICTED VIOLENCE. PROCEED WITH CAUTION
The year was 2006. Jason Blood sat in his Gotham City apartment during a stormy night, looking out a window at the harsh rain and bright flashes of lightning. His fingers rubbed across his smooth and hairless chin before, abruptly, a voice was heard in the back of his head. A familiar voice, that of his inner demon.
“Why are you just sitting in here? You should be out there, filling enemy’s hearts with fear!”
“Etrigan” Jason gasped, him and his chair falling backward into a nearby bookshelf. “I… I thought this nightmare was over” Jason quivered, standing back up with one hand clutching his bruised occiput.
“Ha! There’s no way you believe that lie. Etrigan is eternal, until you die!”
“You can quit it with the rhyming” growled Jason, his eyebrows furling.
“…Fine.”
“But… How are you back? Why is this happening, I don’t understand, I-…”
“This curse isn’t temporary, Blood.”
“I thought I at least bested you mentally… I was even in control of your body when battling Klarion last year, and again with Eldon Peck just a few months ago”
“I was still there, albeit silent and used. I could still see through clouded eyes… You know, back before Merlin bonded your soul with my own, I was a person. Demon, yes, but I thought, I spoke, I lived. You can’t expect me to obey your manipulation forever..!”
Jason was silent.
“…And they call ME a monster!” continued Etrigan.
“I’m sorry” said Jason
“…’Sorry’? ‘SORRY’?! THAT’S ALL YOU HAVE TO SAY!?” Etrigan roared.
Jason’s hand involuntarily clenched into a fist before hurling upward, landing a punch on his jaw. He fell backward, the top of his head colliding with the glass window as he grunted in discomfort.
“Wait… What did you say about Merlin?” Jason asked, slowly sitting back up.
“Huh?”
“Just a moment ago, you said something about Merlin bonding our souls together… Do you remember our past? Have you been keeping that from me?!”
“Do not antagonize me over this.”
“How could I not? Whenever you were in control, all you did was slaughter the innocent. If not for me striving so hard to take over permanently, all of Gotham and San Fransisco would be extinct. Not to mention you hiding away knowledge you apparently had about my history, something I have every right to know. There’s a reason the public eye sees you as a monster.”
“Shut up. Shut up! Shut up!!! SHUT UP!!!” Etrigan demanded.
Jason’s hand grew larger and yellowed, his fingernails growing into claws before uncontrollably and aggressively scratching over his own eye as he shrieked in agony. He bashed his head against the window behind him in attempts to free himself from Etrigan’s assault, causing the glass to crack slightly behind his head. His hand shifted back to its previous human state before he used it to clutch the now-blind eye, sobbing from the other optic.
“The public’s eye may see me as a monster, but now yours can’t” Etrgian insensitively joked.
“H-… how could you…” Jason whimpered.
“Oh please, spare me from your whining. You’re lucky all I gave you was a scratch.”
Jason stood up and turned himself back to the window, one hand still on his eye, the other pressed against the partially cracked glass. He looked at his feet as a bloodied tear drop fell from between the gaps in his fingers and noticeably splatted on a floorboard. He looked back up and out the window, both hands dropping to his sides. He stood in an almost defeated stance with dangling arms and limp shoulders, whilst in the glass he saw a false reflection that appeared as Etrigan staring back at him.
“You’re weak, Blood” said the reflection.
Jason’s hands clenched into fists and his shoulders tightened and his face scrunched up threateningly.
“GET OUT OF MY HEAD!!!” he cried, hurling his fists repeatedly at the glass until his knuckles bled and the window was completely shattered, shards crashing below like hail from the sky. He looked down at it. Due to all the blood loss, he felt lightheaded. Unbalanced. The empty window-frame stretched from floor to ceiling, so with little effort, he could easily fall. Which he did. But not in the direction he expected. He fell backward, merely onto the floorboards, completely avoiding a fatal drop. Though it was still enough to knock him unconscious.
He lied there for roughly 15 minutes, a small cup’s worth of blood leaking from his mouth before his eyes abruptly shot open.
“Change, change, o’ form of man. Release the might from fleshy mire. Boil the blood in the heart of fire. Gone, gone, o’ form of man. Release the demon… Etrigan” Etrigan chanted from Jason’s lips, causing him to change form. Now fully formed and standing, Etrigan said “Thank you, Blood, for tiring yourself out for me. Now I am in control, and I can finally be free..!” before animalistically charging forward and lunging through the window…
~Madam Web