Domi: A Praetorian Tale (Dark)


Bench

 

Posted

This is... wow.

Just wow.

And yet, this seems like it's all true. Every little bit of it seems like it's straight from the comics and the game.

What's funny about all this is I was just reading the comics that fit into this story. Spooky, no?


 

Posted

Yeah, Libby! You show that skanky mirror-universe you who's boss!!


There is an art, or, rather, a knack to flying. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss. --The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

 

Posted


“We’re not really that different, you know,” Domi told her double after Ms. Liberty activated the hard light hologram that would take her place as a Trainer while she took a short break.

“I’m nothing like you,” Liberty said in a flat tone of voice.

“Oh no? I saw the way you are with those young heroes. You look bright eyed and enthusiastic. Positively giddy.” Domi noted with amusement the angry look that her counterpart gave her. “We both know that’s not the real you. You’re like me. You show whatever face the world expects of you.”

“I am nothing like you, “ Liberty repeated. “You’re just an empty shell. Grandpa wants to save you, but there’s nothing to save is there … Domi?” She shook her head disgustedly. “You’re like a spoiled brat, playing with her toys. Have you ever done anything in your entire life?”

“I made Statesman cry.” Domi laughed.

She didn’t see the blow that knocked her down, but she wasn’t totally surprised by it, either. She laughed again and wiped the blood from her lips. “See what I mean? What do you think your little heroes would think of you now if they saw you sucker punching me like that?”

Liberty growled. “This is a waste of my time. Grandpa must be getting senile if he thinks that you’re worth the trouble.”

“Oh, Statesman and I have a very special relationship.” She laughed again, a cruel mocking sound. “He cares for me.”

“He pities you.”

“It bothers you, doesn’t it? The thought that Statesman might love me.”

“You’re disgusting. Grandpa would never love a creature like you.”

“Why do you insist on calling him that? Does he look like a grandfather to you? Physically, he’s a young, powerful man. Handsome, too. Surely you’ve noticed.”

“Shut up.”

“Or what? You’ll hit me again? I’m used to that.”

“I don’t understand you,” her double says again. “You have a chance here for something better. Grandpa is trying to help you. You can have a new life here. You can be safe from Tyrant—from what he does to you. Why are you acting like this?”

“Did you ever hear the story of the Scorpion and the frog?” Domi asked her. “The scorpion asked the frog to carry it over the river and the frog refused, thinking the scorpion would sting him. ‘Why would I do that?’ the scorpion asked. ‘I would drown.’ The frog agreed to take him over the river, but when they were halfway across, the scorpion stung the frog. Do you know why he did that?”

“’It’s my nature,’” her counterpart said softly. “Grandpa told me that story when I was a little girl and asked about Recluse.”

“I am what I am,” Domi said with a shrug.

“You’re a fool.”

Domi sighed. “Perhaps.” She looked at her doppelganger and smiled whimsically. “Does Statesman still touch you?”

“Touch--?”

“He doesn’t, does he? I bet he avoids being alone with you or spending much time in your company.”

Liberty said nothing.

“It’s because of me, you know. I’m his new little girl.” She reached out and took both of Liberty’s hands and looked her in the eyes.

It was like looking in a mirror. The hair was the same. The lips were the same. The eyes …

The eyes were the same shade of blue, but there was something in Liberty’s eyes that she never saw in her own when she saw her true reflection:

Love.

One glance in the eyes of Ms. Liberty told Domi that her counterpart had grown up cherished and protected, loved and happy. She had never known hunger or want. She had never lost faith in her mother.

Domi expected to feel disdain—hatred—contempt—for her double, but she did not. Instead, she felt … sad. “I’m the scorpion. I can’t be what he wants me to be. We both know that. If I stay, I’m going to kill him. It’s my nature.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

She whispered the answer as though to hide the answer—perhaps even from herself. “Because he is the only one who’s ever tried to help me.”

She let their hands drop.

Ms. Liberty sighed and squared her shoulders. “Come on. We’re going on patrol.”

“What? Why?”

“It’s my nature.” Liberty tossed her hair back. “Maybe you’re right. Maybe you can’t be saved. But that doesn’t mean I can’t try.” She smiled softly. “Grandpa expects me to.”

I hate her, Domi told herself. She has everything that should have been mine. She thinks she’s better than me. I’m going to kill her. I’m going to make her beg for her life just like my mother did.

She told herself that, but she knew that it was a lie.


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Posted



In the end, Ms. Liberty had sent her back to her world. Back to her home.

Back to hell.

She had gone willingly, of course. She did not belong in that world where Marcus Cole could love his granddaughter without it being a sick and twisted thing. She was never meant to live in a world where her mother lived.

The others were waiting for her when she returned.

Mayhem’s eyes were lit up with anticipation, expecting Tyrant to berate her for her failure to obtain any truly useful information from her foray into Statesman’s world. Her playthings Chimera and Malaise knelt at her side like the lapdogs they were.

Marauder covertly gave her a thumbs up while still keeping his face expressionless.

Neuron and Bobcat stood with their arms folded, Bobcat leaning against her lover’s side. For a fleeting moment, Domi envied Bobcat; she knew that the catwoman was a fool to think that Neuron cared for her, but she found herself wishing that she too could believe in that kind of folly about someone …

Anti-Matter … she could see nothing of Anti-Matter’s face, but his hands were clenched tightly to his side and he stared frequently at Tyrant as though in preparation for an attack.

He would die for me, Domi realized. He knows that he hasn’t a prayer against Tyrant but he would attack him in an instant if he thought that my life depended on it. Please don’t let him have to …

And she smiled bitterly to herself as she understood that her fear wasn’t for herself …

Perhaps Jessica was right after all …

Finally, there was Tyrant himself. He sat on his throne waiting for her. His face was impassive … she had seen him kill women and children with that exact same look on his face … or spare them. “Dominatrix. You have returned.”

“Yes, my Emperor.” She knelt to him, trying to see his eyes. Are you still there, Marcus Cole? Beyond the madness and the power, the passion and the fury … does something of Statesman live in you? Somewhere—somehow—does part of you actually love me?

“You have failed me, Dominatrix. The secrets of the Freedom Phalanx remain beyond my grasp. We are no closer to defeating Statesman than we were in the past. What do you have to say for yourself?”

“I am sorry, my lord.”

“Is that all?”

“Yes, my lord. I have failed you. No one can dispute that.” She felt suddenly very tired, exhausted down to her very bones. She just wanted an end to this—life or death no longer mattered, she just wanted it to be over. “I did my best, but my double saw through me. I was unable to get close enough to Statesman to discover what we needed. I am sorry.”

Tyrant raised his hand. It began to glow with power.

Mayhem licked her lips in anticipation.

Out of the corner of her eye, Domi saw Anti-Matter raise his hands, the sickly greenish glow forming around them even as Neuron was reaching forth to lay a restraining hand on his old friend’s shoulder.

Marauder looked at her and simply shrugged his shoulders eloquently.

Domi looked up, determined to look death—and her grandfather—in the eye as she met her last moment.

For a moment, those eyes—so like her own—stared into hers.

Then he lowered his hand. “Welcome home, granddaughter.” He raised her to her feet and embraced her. “Unlike some of my followers”—and he stared hard at Mayhem—“you do not seek to deny your faults or blame others for your defeats. Failure is not a crime; it is simply a delay in our inevitable victory. Our time will come, Dominatrix. And when Statesman lies shackled at my feet once more, you shall stand at my right side!”

“Thank you, my lord. I will not fail you again.”

“Indeed you shall not. Now come, we must talk. I have missed our … conversations.”

Domi sighed and squared her shoulders. “As always, my lord, I am here to serve you.”

“Indeed you are, Dominatrix. Indeed you are.” He took her hand and led her away from the others. “And afterwards … tell me of Statesman’s granddaughter. Tell me of Ms. Liberty.”

“Ms. Liberty?” She blinked her eyes in surprise.

“Yes. After all, Statesman took my grandchild away from me. Perhaps one day I shall return the favor …”

And in spite of what was to come, Domi found herself smiling. “Indeed, grandfather. I think you would find meeting Ms. Liberty to be most … instructive.”

This is my life. This is my world. I am not weak. I will not cry. No matter what happens to me, I will never cry. I am Dominatrix!

And no matter what changes may come, I always will be …


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