Doom Comes To Jump (Open)

Dar had arrived.

It had been a long plane ride, and it felt good to stretch his legs.

He collected his baggage, including one long, heavy bag. It was specially tagged, and he handed it to the security guard as he walked through the metal detectors.

The guard opened the bag up and his eyes opened wide. "What on earth?"

"It's a sword," Dar said.

"I can see that. How did you get this onto the plane in the first place? Even if it wasn't a carry-on, we don't transport weapons."

Dar smiled. "You need to be able to fight with a weapon."

The guard frowned as he lifted the heavy bag. "This is really heavy. It's like fifty pounds. You wouldn't be able to swing it around very easily."

"You would need superhuman strength to wield it," Dar said.

"You know, there are people here who have that. This is a strange city. It attracts a lot of weirdos."

Dar stood there, grinning politely. Even though it was still warm outside, he was wearing a heavy winter cloak. He had white hair, even though he was young. Also, the guard couldn't help but notice, his last name was 'Ghost.' Could this guy be a metahuman? Was the sword a decoration? Or was it truly a weapon? Something told the guard he didn't want to find out.

"You see," Dar said. "I told them at the last airport that if they wouldn't transport my luggage...I wouldn't use their services. Is there a problem?"

"Welcome to Jump City," the guard said. It was company policy. If metahumans were involved, they weren't supposed to anger them. It was better to get them out of the airport immediately, where they couldn't do any damage. Hopefully, this guy was a wannabe hero. Otherwise, it would be up to the Teen Titans to take care of him.

Dar walked out the airport door and into the city, his sword sheathed and within the long bag over his back. He took a deep breath of the air. "Hello Jump City. Your lord and master has arrived."

Someone turned when Dar spoke. The man stared, studying him. Dar ignored the man until he spoke, and then turned to face the stranger, curious. The stranger said that Dar was a 'curious being,' and asked if he was new to Jump City.

"Aren't we all?" Dar smiled. "I think everyone is unique, with special talents. No matter how boring you might think your life is, it's sure to be fascinating to somebody else. I'm honored to have received so much of your attention, especially so soon after arriving in Jump City for the first time. Tell me, what is it about me that you find...curious?"

The man had red eyes, showing that he was certainly not normal. Dar was well aware of the large meta population in Jump City. For someone to have such strange eyes in this place meant that he was probably one of those empowered individuals.

Dar wondered if he should activate his powers. Right now, he was just a normal man. It wasn't always pleasant to walk around with the power of Wrath inside you. If this strange man attacked him, Dar would be at a disadvantage. But then again, the man was not threatening Dar, simply observing him. There was no need to jump to conclusions, or to prepare for the worst.

"I hope this doesn't offend you, sir, but are you a vampire?" Someone with naturally red eyes might be sensitive about their appearance, but this man didn't strike Dar that way. He seemed too confident in his poise. At the very least, this stranger was a very driven, self-confident individual. At most, well, vampires were the only creatures Dar could think of that had red eyes.

Kyte said that he rarely found anyone interesting, and insisted that the two of them were quite similar. Dar didn't quite see the connection, but he was interested to hear that Kyte had been around for a "very long time." That statement, combined with the information that he was something higher on the scale than a vampire, brought Dar to one conclusion. Kyte was a demon.

Kyte introduced himself and offered his hand, and Dar shook it. It was only polite, after all. Kyte offered to treat him to a meal of pizza, but Dar hesitated.

"I'm Dar," he said. He waited a moment before continuing. "I'm not certain that I wish to eat with one of your kind. Call me old fashioned, but as you said, I am new here. I'm not sure what I might have to gain from your pizza that might make up for the risk. I have my own, personal demons, and I do not wish for any more."

Demons were constantly deceiving people, bringing about the destruction of mankind. Dar was not a scholar of such things, and he had no desire to enter a situation he wasn't prepared for. If Kyte wanted to make some sort of deal for Dar's soul, then the answer would be no. There was no reason to go through the formalities of such a discussion, and Dar couldn't imagine what else a fallen angel might wish for.

Kyte found Dar's name to be curious, and Dar couldn't blame him. It wasn't a common name. There wasn't much common about Dar, about either of them apparently.

Kyte admitted to being a demon, and suggested that Dar was a bit racist against his kind. Dar hadn't really thought about it that way before. He had just considered himself informed. Well, even if he was racist, he didn't see a problem with that. Not when demons were involved. There were many dark forces in the world and in the universe at large. Dar still had nightmares about some of them, although many had disappeared a few years back.

Dar accepted Kyte's phone number. Kyte said that he would come to Dar's aid if he was ever in need, and that Dar would have need. This service would be free of any kind of charge.

With that, Kyte turned to get some pizza for himself, muttering something about Papa John's.

"Embodiment of sin? If that's how you describe yourself, then I can hardly be called racist, can I? After all, it's not like you have any sort of free will to call your own." Dar smiled, hoping he had caught Kyte's attention. "You can no longer turn to the light, and you have nothing to do while you wait for that light to eventually destroy you. Nothing but torment mortals, that is. Am I not correct? If not, what exactly to you fight for?"

A city like this, that allowed demons to walk the streets, was not fitting for Dar to rule. Clearly, he had a lot of work to do before Jump City could become his shining stronghold, the place where he would build his armies and launch a war against the entire world. Still, Dar was curious if even one of Kyte's kind could change. Dar had changed, after all. He was certainly not perfect, but he wasn't a simple terrorist as Darkseid had planned. He was a man following his ambitions, wanting only what every man wanted: the world.

Dar lifted his eyelids when Kyte's voice grew deeper for a moment. He was very tempted to activate his powers, but Kyte soon apologized for the voice change. Dar relaxed, and stayed human.

Kyte explained that he saw his life as all about choices. He said that his fall from grace came from a decision to chase his own free will, even at the expense of the consequences. Still, Dar's original conclusion seemed correct. The choices that Kyte had made affected his current ability to make decisions. It wasn't so uncommon.

"The decisions we make inevitably take away our ability to choose, or to change our circumstances. A newborn child has infinite possibilities, but an old man on his death bed has very few opportunities open to him. If nothing else, your choices have led you to a point where you resist change. Still, if you are fighting for peace, as you say, then you do walk an interesting path indeed. You are not yet the old man on his death bed, Kyte. I know you are old, but I think you still have some youth in you."

Dar's stomach growled. It had been a long flight. Kyte had proved to be interesting. Although Dar was still wary, he was willing to bet he could accept free food without having his soul stolen. "I apologize if I'm boring you, or starving you. I guess I find you interesting as well. Everything happens for a reason, I think. If you are still willing, I'll take you up on your offer. Papa John's sounds wonderful."

"One large cheese pizza will be plenty for me," Dar said. He couldn't believe Kyte's hunger. Ten pizza's? Even if he was capable of eating that much food, did he really want to? Could he afford to eat like that every day?

Even stranger, though, was the order-taker's lack of shock. He acted like this happened every day. Was this city really strange enough that the order didn't surprise him? Or had he simply assumed it was for a party elsewhere?

"You seem to have quite an appetite, Kyte," Dar said with a smile. "I do appreciate the meal, as well as the...protection. You said I might be physically endangered. Is Jump City really that dangerous? And even if it is, aren't the Teen Titans around to defend the innocent?"

Dar watched for a reaction as he mentioned the Titans. Kyte said he was fighting for peace. While that didn't necessarily mean he was working with the Titans, it was a strong indicator, at least in Dar's mind.

Dar held his arms out to the side. All he had was his big, long case, and a suitcase. "What do I have that someone here might wish to take?"

Kyte reacted slightly to the word 'Titans.' He was obviously familiar with them, but Dar couldn't tell if they were his friends or foes. To Dar, the Titans were neither right now. He would fight them if he needed to, but he hoped to control them if at all possible. Once he ruled this city, he would need deputies to patrol the streets and keep the peace. The Titans would be much better at that than any criminals.

Kyte said that there were indeed a lot of dangerous people in Jump City. Some of them were after money, while others were simply after lives. Dar smiled. "Good," he said under his breath. His blood pressure started to rise, and his eyes narrowed. Kyte might sense an intensity rising inside Dar as he activated his powers for a few seconds. The idea of people, powerful people, coming up to Dar and trying to rob or kill him was intoxicating. Those opportunities would allow Dar to legally, morally even, kill his attackers. He could almost smell the bloodshed now.

Actually, he could smell pizza right now, and it smelled delicious. Dar took a bite, savoring the cheesy goodness. His intensity dropped as his powers deactivated. He had to be careful about using them in public. Otherwise, his bloodlust might get the better of him. Killing innocent people was bad for society, and Dar did his best to avoid it.

He looked over at Kyte. "I've been looking for a good fight, actually. I moved to this city for the express purpose of meeting these...rogues in combat. Of course, I'm not fighting for peace like you are. I'm just want to clean up the streets a bit. I will keep your card on hand, since I think I'll be seeing a lot of dangerous situations. That won't be a problem, I hope."

Dar ate in silence for a while. The pizza was good, and it was free. He noticed that Kyte seemed to be keeping especially clean while eating. Good. It was refreshing to see someone who wasn't a slob. Although given the quantity of food Kyte had ordered, Dar hadn't expected him to be quite this careful about eating.

Kyte said that he would be fine with coming into dangerous situations, even if they were frequent. It seemed that Dar had gained an ally, although it was certainly one he would try not to make a habit of summoning. But if he ever did have to call Kyte, what could he expect him to do?

"So, what can you do then? In case I ever need to call you, I want to know what I can expect. I don't need a demonstration. That might be too exciting."