Here is the second chapter of Red Hand. I hope you enjoy it!
Disclaimer: I own nothing but a few OCs and possibly maybe my phone (still reading through the policies)
Darkness was all that I could see as I moved my head left and right. I felt coarse needles brushing my back. The feel of it was not bad enough to be honest, it really was just a minor annoyance. As far as eternal punishment, this was alright, if not boring.
"OPEN YOUR EYES CHILD"
The voice boomed with the sound of thunder overlapping it. And just as suddenly, my eyes that I had never realized were shut closed opened up on a dark and starless light that looked almost torn in half by what could only be described as a lightning bolt going at 1 hundredth of its regular speed. Still feeling the prickling on the back of my head, I sat up to see some more strangeness.
The prickling I had confused with a mild brush needles had in fact only been the bone dry savanna grass that I found myself sitting on. Surrounding me and creating a ring around me was a wall of bright scarlet fire that somehow emitted none of the expected heat. Once again, if this was to be my hell, then the punishment would definitely be the boredom that would inevitably come to me. Turning at Lund to get a better understanding of my surroundings, I laid eyes upon the only other non-grass object in this ring of fire: a pretty healthy acacia tree. Seeing nothing better to do while I awaited the punishment pastors and priests promised me since my youth, I decided to step forward and sit under the tree.
As I slumped my back in the tee, I could only reflect that this personal hell, there were not nearly enough breasts and naked winged women for this to be heaven, was ultimately ok as far as hells could go, even if it did make me wonder how pathetic my life must've been to not warrant even a single munchkin.
"That would be pretty pathetic," thunder boomed once again another slowed down bolt streaked across the dark firmament.
Startled by the powerful sound coming from way too close, I turned to my left where the booming voice originated from. There, sitting so close to me I wondered how I had not noticed him sat what could only be described as a behemoth of a man. Gigantic legs closer to tree trunks, definitely not coniferous though, were covered by large and extremely baggy red pants whilst a red and white checkered tunic hung loosely at his waist held up only by a broad leather belt from which hung two double headed axes that would give even the strongest of gym rats difficulties to lift. His broad chest is as left bare as if to invite anyone to add to the awesome collections of battle scars that marred his chestnut skin. Pushing my head to its limits, I tried the look at his face, but found myself not being able to as a shadow seemed to fall upon his face not t unlike the darkness that enveloped not yet unlocked characters in a videos game.
"That sounded slightly racist there child," another lightning bolt.
"Tell me I'm wrong and I'll take it back," was my answer.
I was not ready for the booming laughter that followed nor for the light show it seemed to create in the sky as it pulsed brightly.
Waiting for him to finish, I couldn't help but notice a sense if familiarity with this otherworldly being. Almost as if I had known him my whole life but couldn't think of his name.
"Do I know you?"
"You may," he could not hide the mirth in his teasing tone, "or you may not. It's for me to know," even though I could not see his eyes I could feel his gaze lay on me like father's watchful gaze, "and for you to figure out."
I gave him the blankest stare I could muster, which in my own opinion is quite blank.
"…"
"…"
"…"
He sighed and stood up to his full height: a towering 12 ft tall and stared at me expectingly. Getting the hint, I rose up to stand in front of him only to be stopped in a kneeling position by the weight of his stare alone. If it previously held a father's warmth, it now felt more like being suffocated under the weight of a ton of feathers. As I struggled to catch my breath, I heard his voice boom once more.
"YOU ASK WHO I AM?" The pressure increased slightly at each word, "HERE IS YOUR ANSWER," he tore his axes from his belt, "I AM THE FIRE YOU SEE AND THE THUDER ABOVE. I AM THE LIGHT OF JUSTICE AND THE CONQUEROR OF EVIL. I AM THE BEAT THAT SOOTHES THE CHILDREN. I AM THE CATACLYSM, THE POWER, AND THE FAITH. I AM THE STONE, THE ROCK AND THE MOUNTAIN. I AM THE FITE OF THE EARTH, THE LAVA, AND THE VOLCANO. I AM THE STRENGTH AND THE FEAR OF IT, I AM THE WILL THAT MAKES ONR AIM FOR GREATNESS! I AM THE KING OF KINGS. I AM THE THIRD, AND GREATEST, ALAFIN OF OYO. I AM THE FATHER TO ALL OF ITS CHILDREN ACROSS THE GLOBE. I AM THE FITFH DAY OF THE WEEK AND THE FOURTH DAY OF THE MONTH," my eyes widened as my knee struggled not to buckle under me. "I AM…"
"Shango," I muttered the name, but as if to agree with me, thunder boomed like it hadn't before and the fire that surrounded us grew to five times its size all the while the earth under me shook.
Suddenly, all the pressure that I had felt evaporated as if it had never been there in the first place.
"Look at me my child," I heard him speak in a deep voice.
Against my better judgment, I looked to him. Where he once stood well above me, he had shrunk to a more human 6'1", but what really drew my attention was the fact that where shadows used cover his face I could now see a vibrant smile and the warmth in his bright red eyes. I took the hand he extended to me to raise me at eye level. He made a show to dust my shoulders before clasping my shoulders with his hands, his smile still in place, "I knew you'd figure it out."
I hummed my response, there was something weird going on.
"So," he continued, "wanna grab a meal? Dying is hungry work." There it was again, something about his voice, something was off, almost like it was missing –
"I'm noticing a distinct lack of thunder now," I drawled in a way that would be better suited to take points from Gryffindor rather than meeting a god.
In response, his smile got even bigger, and a small spark flashed at the edge of it while he removed a hand from my shoulder to flash me a thumbs up before taking said hand and snapping his fingers making a meal my mother would be proud of appear in front of my very eyes.
Swallowing the last piece of amala, I laid back down with a contented sigh and a small smile on my lips.
"Enjoyed yourself?" I heard my meal companion ask from his own lounging position.
I hummed in response my arms firmly tucked behind under head.
"Good then, let's get to business." I turned my head to look at him with a raised eyebrow to convey my question. "You didn't think I brought you here just to share a meal, did you?" he raised his own eyebrow, "I'm here to make you an offer you cannot refuse kid. If you want to stay alive that is."
I sat up a little too fast for my own goo if the ensuing dizziness was to be believed. Shaking my head, I fixed the orisha with a stare that told him he had my undivided attention, "what do you mean by that?"
"I plan on making you an offer you can't refuse?"
"No, I expected that, the other part."
"Oh, you mean the whole remaining alive thing?" I nodded and the king took it as a sign to continue, "it's all quite simple really." He waved his hand and we found ourselves at the exit of the alley where I got mugged. I heard myself gasp more than I felt it as I saw my own body on the ground alongside five others who had been gunned down as well. Shango placed a comforting hand upon my shoulder, "Sorry to tell you this kid, but as of this moment, you are at death's door." Another wave of his hand and we were back at the foot of the acacia tree, a move that earned him some gratitude, "Luckily for you, I am here to offer you a way out, one that will lead you to an even greater purpose," in a flash, the man that stood in front of me seemed to age a century and grown a beard that reached his knees, "your very own King's Cross if you will."
"Alright I'll bitte," I deadpanned, "What is it you want from me, oh great god-king?"
"Nothing too difficult my young disciple," he changed back to his young man form, "I simply want you to be my avatar on Earth. Accept this, and you shall go back to life with the blessing of Shango."
"What's the trap?" In Gotham, Murphy's law was absolute, and one learned early on that nothing too good ever came for free.
"Ah you got me," I narrowed my eyes, and he raised his hands in a calming manner, "the only downside I can foresee is that," deep breath, "well, of all of my past avatars, verry precious few had what you could call a happy ending of this I cannot lie to you."
The didn't sound ominous at all. But still, if this gave me a chance at life, I had to ask, "you said few found happy endings, meaning it's possible?"
"I do believe it is indeed possible, but remember that for every Olaudah Equiano and Frederick Douglass, there are hundreds of Alex Dumas, Nat Turners, Dutty Boukmans, an John Henrys," he paused and for a moment had the look of a man remembering old friends, the same look my father used to sport when he talked about his old army days, "Such is the lot of those who dedicate their lives to fight against the injustices of the world, you ought to remember that my child."
"All the men you mentioned," I swallowed a lump in my throat, "they were all special, how can I ever hope to be mentioned in the same breath as them?" I looked at my hands. How could I not feel inadequate of the opportunity Shango was giving me when he told me who some of his older avatars were? How could I, a regular high school kid whose biggest achievement to date was winning a few football games, compare to men who had led hundreds in battle or who through their sheer tenacity and force of will help bring down one of the most evil institutions this world had ever seen? I just couldn't.
"Don't forget my child, that they too were once children."
"I don't think we can compare my childhood to theirs."
"Indeed," he acquiesced, "yours was a different type of struggle, but it does not limit the potential you have to do good in the world. If it did, I wouldn't be here right now, would I?"
"Then why are you here?!" I snapped, "What could possibly be so special about me? There has to be a thousand more qualified people to represent you on this Earth, so why me?" I could feel the tears threatening to fall from my eyes.
The great orisha that stands above others and whose name still strikes the fear of the elements he represents in the hearts of hundreds of people pulled me into a hug.
"Have I not been telling you, "He murmured, "you, Tyler Jebediah Abioye Jackson, are my child." He pushed me in a way that I could directly look into his eyes while he held my shoulders, "Through your father, you are descended of my wife Oya whose blood came here in chains but found freedom through force of arms. And through your mother you get the blood of Osun and Oba whose rivers still flow strongly through our homeland. You, young Oye, are one of the very few direct descendent of the great Shango that still retain enough of my blood to become a complete avatar of my magnificence. So, I ask you again, will you become my avatar on this Earth and right wrongs in the name of the great king Shango and of all those who came before you?"
That statement threw me for a loop. Out of any possible things he could have said, that was not even remotely close to what I thought he was going to say. The fact that my father, the disgraced sergeant Samuel Jackson, was a descendant of two great gods was wild enough but to think that my mother carried the blood of three was out of this world. Wait a minute, does that mean that my parents were somehow related? That'd be fun to bring up at family reunions if I had one to go to. The hands on my shoulder tensed a bit. Right, existential crisis later, for now an answer.
"So, if I do accept to become your avatar, will I have to like give up my body or anything like that?"
"The hell kind of parasite do you take me for?" he looked at me incredulously, "of course you won't have to do this. Frankly, taking someone's freedom is truly one of the most unjust things to do, especially when it's against their will. One would have to be pretty ballsy to try that with a child of mine."
"Ok, good to know," there was a story there just waiting to be unraveled', "what does it entail then?"
"You want a job description?" I nodded vigorously, "It's really simple, if you see an injustice, stop it. Do your best to live by my tennets and bring glory to my name. Protect the weak from those that would abuse them and be the best at everything you try. And yes, that does mean school too. I don't deal with that Cs get degrees alright, only As can be greats kiddo. Why back in my days I only had the best marks."
"Weren't you privately tutored?" I muttered lowly
"yes and I was the best in the class," apparently not lowly enough, "other than that, you can feel free to use the powers you will be given to do anything you like, but remember –"
"No injustice or crime, gotcha" I interrupted.
"I was gonna say always use a rubber but that is important too," he beamed at me, "I'm a pretty lenient guy as far as gods go aren't I?"
"Some might say so, but you won't hear me complaining," I shrugged.
"Last time, will you Tyler Jebediah Abioye Jackson become my avatar on this earth?"
"I accept." And just like that my life, and the world, changed forever.
"Will you be the paragon of truth, Justice and the Shango way now until we meet again in death?"
"I will."
"And will you for the love of me screw Bette Kane already?"
"Sure thing," I absentmindedly answered, "Wait what—"
I couldn't finish my sentence. A crack of thunder and a flash of white light was all that I could see. In the distance, I could hear Shango cackling madly fading away with the light until all I could see was darkness.
"Pretty gruesome scene here in The East End Ron. Five men were found dead after an alleged drive by shooting of a bus stop yesterday. Witnesses had this to say," the reporter opened a notebook, "'screw you, I ain't seen nothing', 'Go die Fontana', and 'Call diamond about that facial'. Never mind that last one that was a personal note. Back to you Ron and Veronica." The scene on the street went back to the studio with the same two anchors as always ribbing on each other.
Well Veronica, I do believe that Brian has got a busy afternoon planned. Shall we?
Enough of that Ron," she lightly taps his arm then looks straight at the camera, "unfortunately, our network will not be able to bring you today's forecast seeing as our weather station was just another destroyed building in the apprehension of Killer Croc by the Batman and his merry band."
Finally finding the remote, I turned the TV off before putting my earbuds in an pressed play on my phone.
"I got a bone to pick,
I don't want you monkey mouther motherfuckers sitin' in my throne again
I'm mad (He mad)
But I ain't stressin'"
I snaped my fingers and found myself basking in the darkness of my apartment.
"True Friends,
One question"
Thunder rumbled outside and, in a flash, I was gone.
