Blood Obsidian

Issue 1

Where fall the gods ... - Part 1

Where Doctor Blood had found the Red Element, Black Staff couldn't possibly imagine, but now his greatest intellectual enemy faced him on a level, physical playing field, too. Black Staff had never felt power like it. Not from GarganTuton, not from BrickLayer. Not from anyone. The first punch had sent him bouncing from one skyscraper to another, glass windows becoming little more than shattered remnants, falling down upon unsuspecting citizens below.

Black Staff had tried to extend the Black Element into a shield that covered those citizens, but it required every last ounce of the fluid Element, leaving him unprotected, vulnerable, and Doc Blood had taken full advantage. The Black Element could only give Black Staff enough energy, enough protection for a few more blows. Then Doc Blood would finally take his revenge.

Revenge for the loss of his wife and daughter in the chaos of one of Black Staff's earlier battles, and one of his bloodiest. He had faced Ogror, the beast from the core of the Earth, a villain far beyond Black Staff's nascent abilities, yet he had fought the creature anyway. He had held his own, but still there were casualties. Many casualties. Only the chance of the Cooper Building, scheduled for demolition, falling and trapping Ogror long enough for Black Staff to ooze the Black Element deep into the beasts lungs, rendering it unconscious, was he able to survive, and win. Doctor Blood's wife and child were not so lucky and the once hardworking scientist became lost in rage and lust for Black Staff's blood.

Another strike and Black Staff knew he could not take much more. As he smashed through the walls of a building, his own body creating a trench and a crater of rubble within the structure, he could rely on only one attack that could possibly stop Doctor Blood, but that attack would come at a great price. If the Red Element had the same, or similar, powers as the Black Element, then the only way to defeat it was from within. Black Staff had done this only once before and it had almost cost his life. This time, he doubted he would survive, but at least it would stop Doctor Blood too.

The monstrous figure of the transformed Doctor Blood arced through the sky toward Black Staff, landing heavy only twenty feet from Black Staff, sending miniature tremors rippling through the ground, causing rubble to cascade to the floor of the building. Black Staff had to time this right, or nothing would ever stop Doctor Blood, whose thirst for revenge had transcended beyond only Black Staff, but to the entire world.

The Black Element felt feeble, dying as Black Staff used all his willpower to keep it solid. He coughed, revealing his face and allowing him to spit blood to the side. Doc Blood had created the Blood Scythe, the brilliant red weapon that had already almost cut Black Staff in two, and that was what Black Staff had hoped for. Had Doc Blood continued to punch him, Black Staff would never have the chance he had expected. Doc Blood didn't only want to beat Black Staff, he wanted to crush him utterly.

Only now did Black Staff realise the bells ringing in his ears weren't caused by the immensely powerful punches. As he tried to push himself upright, he saw the kids, hiding beneath their desks as though that stood any chance of saving them. They couldn't be any older than seventeen, their teacher standing there as though his overweight body could protect them.

"Run." The croak that escaped his lips could hardly reach his own ears, let alone theirs. "Run!"

He had no time to see whether they had taken his advice, his order, as Doc Blood spun the Blood Scythe in his hands, bringing it down toward Black Staff's head. Only his titular black staff saved him, conjured from the very essence of the Black Element, it had been the first thing he had ever created from the semi-sentient fluid. On his way to martial arts class, mugged, he had reached out for his bamboo bo staff, only for his hand to fall into a viscous liquid. A liquid that shaped itself into the staff that he needed.