Ghosts of Czarnia

Story and Cover by evolution-500

Disclaimer: Lobo is a character belonging to DC Comics.

WARNING: This story contains violence, course language, dark, mature and disturbing themes and imagery. Reader discretion is advised.

"The Drink"

Lobo gripped the handle of his motorcycle, revving its engine with a roar as he soared through the stars, his black hair waving wildly around him, the Czarnian leaning forward in his seat like a hungry wolf on the prowl.

He had been on the hunt for far too long, scouring the universe for this particularly elusive prey, but after years of searching, at long last, the hunt was nearing its end - the bastich was going to get what was coming.

Once this was finished, Lobo would be back to being the last Czarnian.

He braced himself as both rider and vehicle burned through the planet's atmosphere, ignoring the friction and heat as he drove on with grim and fierce single-minded determination, greeted by dark, thick clouds that rumbled and crackled all around him.

All traces of the sun and its warm light were gone, replaced by the creeping darkness of night as it swept across the landscape, but a storm was coming, and the Main Man brought the thunder.

* * *

Lightning flashed across the black skies as it poured, the Main Man parking his bike down onto some muddy terrain outside of a grey capsule-like dome, the doors rusted with age, looking like dry old encrusted blood.

Raising up his red featureless eyes, Lobo sniffed the air, then grinned, his fangs glinting with predatory delight.

The bastich was here. Definitely a Czarnian.

Lobo rolled his shoulders, his neck cracking with a loud snap as he popped his knuckles.

Feetal's Giz, it's been a while since he killed a fraggin' Czarnian of all things!

Tilting his head up, he tried recalling the other times he had.

He distinctly remembered killing old Ms. Tribb, his fourth-grade history teacher, but for the life of him, he couldn't remember the others.

Fraggin' Czarnia was his defining moment, what made him so notorious to the rest of the universe.

...So why couldn't he remember?

He pondered for a moment, his mind trying to work through the dense fog of yesterday, back to that day all those many years ago. Drawing a blank, the Czarnian scowled.

Nothin'.

While he was admittedly always a creature of habit and of the moment, there were times when he had trouble recalling past details.

Not that he gave much thought to it, nor had he really cared... and yet, Lobo had to admit that on some level that it bothered him. At least to a certain extent.

He stood within the shadows, staring down to his reflection in a muddy puddle, the image in the tiny pool rippling and wavering, becoming distorted with each drop.

'Eh fuck it,' Lobo thought.

He'd figure it out eventually. Memories were funny little things. Like a stuck turd, all it took was one little push, and then it will all come flowing out, and Lobo knew of the perfect neural laxative - killing this fragger. That will probably help rejog those old memories.

Shrugging, Lobo snorted and spat on the ground, scratching his crotch absentmindedly.

Stepping into the unlit airlock, he shook himself like a dog, shrugging off the rain as the doors sealed, waiting for the decontamination filters to kick in. Gas flooded the chamber until everything around Lobo was concealed by a thick smoky haze.

Thumbing the hook on his jeans, Lobo waited patiently, ignoring the smell of chemicals as the doors whirred open before stopping, fizzing and puttering out.

Frowning, he pounded one of the side walls, causing the doors to continue unabated.

Light seeped through a small hole, revealing a bar with various alien species, but one figure sat alone at a table by himself in the middle of the room.

He was tall and lean, his age seeming to be somewhere around his thirties, although it was possible he was considerably older due to his Czarnian physiology. His chalk white skin was contrasted by the black scales and bony ridges around his brilliantly red eyes, the latter devoid entirely of either pupils or whites.

His grey hair was wild and dense, and yet it was neatly groomed, tidy, forming a dome at the top with slight tendrils at the bottom of his pointed ears. His clothes consisted of a black jacket of fine supple leather, the coat hanging lazily off his slim frame to reveal the white tank top he wore underneath, his jeans a light pastel with a loose belt that hung lopsidedly on one side. Black, knee-length rider boots fit snuggly on his legs, his hands - long, strong-looking clawed weapons - clad in fingerless gloves.

A fighter's hands - that much Lobo could tell just from looking at them.

Taking a sip from a glass of some unknown alcoholic beverage, the man's sculpted lips pulled away, revealing a cleanshaven face with a thin aquiline nose, his narrow eyes possessing a cold hardness. Curling from the corners of his mouth were a pair of black hook-like markings, the edges themselves just resting on his sculpted chin, looking almost as if he had taken a bite out of a black, ink-filled apple.

As Lobo studied the man, a strange feeling of deja vu came over him.

That face...those eyes...

Where had Lobo seen him before?

Furrowing his brow, Lobo tried to think back to the days of Czarnia, but...it had all been such a blur.

He remembered people dying, so...why did this guy look so familiar to him?

'Maybe I had passed by him on a street or somethin' back home,' Lobo reasoned.

Somewhat satisfied by the explanation, he clutched the hook on his belt.

Whoever the bastich was, or had been, doesn't really matter anymore - in ten seconds, his entrails were going to coat the floor.

As he took a step forward, Lobo noticed something odd.

The bar was strangely still.

Quiet.

At first, Lobo thought nothing of it - he thought that it was merely the result of their noticing him, which wasn't much of a surprise considering he was, well, Lobo; anyone and everyone who heard of the Main Man would be shitting their pants in his presence.

Looking around at the other patrons, however, Lobo began to realize that it wasn't him they were afraid of, but rather the other Czarnian, which really struck Lobo as odd.

Tearing his gaze away from the fearful customers, he looked over at the seated figure.

The hell? Why would they be so afraid of this loser? He didn't look that dangerous.

And yet... there was that unmistakably palpable sense of dread in the very air itself.

Lobo could feel the fear that everyone was radiating. There was so much fear in the room that it felt like a heavy woolen blanket, so suffocating and oppressive in its thickness that it even caught the Main Man himself off-guard.

The customers were all staring at the seated figure with terror-stricken looks, even though they had made considerable effort to put as much distance between themselves and him that they could.

Nobody dared to move a muscle, but whenever someone had, it was usually done as slowly and as quietly as possible, with their eyes locked dead on the seated man in the center, as if he were some sort of dangerous wild animal.

Everyone seemed to make it a point to avoid the Czarnian entirely.

The few that dared to move within the man's proximity, Lobo noticed, even albeit reluctantly, did so with tentative steps and gave the guy such a wide berth, as if for fear that he would spring up from his chair and seize hold of them.

'What the fuck is up with everyone?'  Lobo wondered.

Czarnians weren't aggressive, so it was weird to see everyone have such extreme reactions, as if they were all in the Devil's presence.

Looking to the seated figure, Lobo watched as the man lazily trailed a black talon around the glass rim in an endless loop, the red liquid slushing around slightly.

It was then that a thought occurred to Lobo.

Could they have-?

Lobo smirked.

"Ha!" Lobo let out a low, rumbling chuckle as he shook his head in disbelief. No, no, no. There was no way these guys would stupidly make that assumption of all things!

And yet, the more he watched the customers, the more prevalent the thought became.

Could they have mistakenly thought this loser to be the Main Man himself?

Lobo gave a derisive scoff.

If that was the case, then boy were these people going to be in for one hell of a rude awakening!

Emerging fully from the decontamination chamber, he stepped into the light and straightened himself up with hook in hand, a sneer etched on the Main Man's hardened features. The Czarnian in the center of the room continued tracing his black talon along the glass rim, not paying Lobo any mind as he gave a look of complete boredom.

"Well, well, well," Lobo said in a low voice, causing the black talon to pause, "look what we have here! Isn't this a fraggin' surprise? And here I thought I was the only one left."

Nictitating membranes flared over the seated Czarnian's red eyes as he turned very slowly in his direction, his expression neutral. The man stared at him quietly for a minute, then two, taking his appearance in. Blinking in surprise, the man's eyes narrowed and lit up like a pair of wicked rubies with dark amusement, his mouth pulled into a cold, vicious smile that revealed unstained sharp teeth. A predator's smile.

To Lobo's surprise, the man let out a quiet chuckle. Furrowing his brow in confusion, Lobo was about to demand what the hell was so damn funny when the man suddenly tossed his head back in laughter, the sound a loud, sharp grating like ice that was being grounded up, putting everyone in the bar on edge, the waiters freezing up entirely.

One or two of the customers were shaking so much with fright that they dropped their drinks onto the floor. Some of them whimpered and held tightly onto the person next to them, trembling uncontrollably while others had loosened their bowels. Everyone's eyes were fixed on the laughing Czarnian, their eyes so wide open with fear that Lobo could practically see his own reflection in them.

As the man continued to laugh, something within Lobo stirred, a sensation that he had trouble identifying.

The Main Man would never in his life admit to being afraid - fear was not part of his vocabulary. In fact, it was the universe itself that was supposed to be afraid. After all, he was Lobo, the Scourge of the Cosmos. Lobo the Last Czarnian. Mister Machete. Master Frag.

Lobo, the most dangerous bounty hunter in the universe. The Ultimate Bastich, a being so dangerous that he was banned from the afterlife itself.

The Main Man.

If anyone were to ask if he had ever felt fear, let alone accuse him of being afraid, Lobo would have gleefully pulled out their intestines just for the hell of it.

And yet...something about that laugh seemed...familiar.

That laugh...he had heard it before, but where-?

As the sound died down, the Czarnian returned his gaze back to Lobo, his red eyes coolly regarding him.

"So," he began, his voice a dusky tenor, "you have come."

Lobo raised a scaly brow. "You've been expectin' me or something?"

The man smirked.

"Indeed," he replied, shifting in his seat as he placed both boots comfortably on the table, gesturing to the chair opposite him. "Take a seat, old friend. We have a lot of catching up to do."

Lobo blinked, then narrowed his eyes in suspicion.

He stared at the man, then looked to the seat, then glanced distrustfully at the others, his red eyes looking for some hint of a trap, an ambush.

The Czarnian chuckled. "Please, there's no reason to get suspicious. Nobody is going to lay a hand on you. Nobody but me." He then gestured to the seat, giving a seemingly affable smile. "Come."

Lobo stared to the offered chair, then raised his eyes back to the seated figure.

"Nah," he responded. "I think I'll stand. Makes guttin' ya easier."

The Czarnian gave him an amused look, then merely shrugged.

"Suit yourself." A smirk crawled up one side of his face, his features darkening. "It has been a while, Mr. Chairman."

Lobo reared his head back in confusion, taken aback.

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

The Czarnian raised up his glass, taking a sip from his red wine.

"Don't you remember?" he asked.

"Remember? Remember what?" Lobo demanded.

The Czarnian stared hard at him, then tilted his head thoughtfully.

"Ahh, I see," he said slowly. "So...you haven't recovered your memories yet. A pity. I had been hoping that you had. Would have made things more interesting."

Lobo's brow crinkled.

"...Do I know ya, Clyde?" he asked.

The man smiled. "Of course you do, Mr. Chairman," he replied. "After all, it was you that contracted me."

Lobo's confusion deepened. "'Contracted you?' For what, exactly?"

The other Czarnian remained still, watching him intently.

"Tell me, friend," he said quietly, tracing a black talon along the rim of his glass, "what do you remember about Czarnia?"

Lobo hesitated, taken aback by the question. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me," the other Czarnian nodded with a calm patience. "What. Do. You. Remember?"

Lobo snarled, his hand clutching his hook. "What is this shit, twenty questions? Say your prayers, Clyde, cuz the Main Man has come to collect on yer lily hide," he said threateningly as he stepped toward him.

"Wait," the Czarnian commanded, holding up a hand that made Lobo pause.

"What is it?" Lobo sneered. "Plan on begging for mercy? You gonna cry and beg, little man?"

The man scoffed. "Ha. Funny." He smirked. "I see you've been taking good care of my dolphins. Much appreciated."

Lobo hesitated. "Your dolphins?! What the frag-? Oh." He then suddenly started to understand. "Ohhhh, you tricky little bastard! Yer playin' games with me! Well guess what, junior?! Nobody, and I mean nobody, plays with the Main Man!"

The Czarnian laughed in his face, shaking his head amusedly.

"Ohh, you poor, stupid bastard," he said slowly with a grin, "you couldn't possibly be any more wrong! How the mighty have fallen."

Lobo squeezed on the hook in his hand. "Say that again, punk," he threatened with grit teeth.

The other Czarnian didn't seem to even take notice.

"It's true," he said calmly. "You are little more than a shadow of your former self, so far removed from what you were that you are barely even recognizable at this point." He tilted his head to the side. "Tell me, friend...how was Czarnia destroyed?"

Lobo smirked. "I fragged it."

"How?" The Czarnian pressed.

Lobo stood there quietly for a moment, deep in thought.

"...Well?" Came the expectant question.

The Main Man's smirk returned, revealing yellow nicotine-stained teeth. "I blew it up."

The Czarnian arched a brow. "Did you?"

"Yeah! Roasted the fuckers," Lobo grinned.

The man stared hard at him, seemingly unimpressed, looking bored.

"Hm," he hummed thoughtfully. "Are you sure?"

Lobo huffed. "Of course I am!" He retorted.

The Czarnian sat still, a frown forming. Putting the glass aside, he rested his elbows on the table and leaned forward, clasping his clawed hands together.

"See, that's where I'm having some trouble," he began. "Maybe something is wrong with me, but the thing is that I remember things happening differently. I recall that Czarnia had been killed off by a plague."

Lobo crinkled his brows as he thought back. Finally he gave a conceding nod.

"Oh yeah! Shit, I was thinkin' of Tsarna. Blew that one up while I was drunk." He shrugged. "What can I say? Killing planets is a regular thing with me - they all just blur together. Once you've seen one destroyed planet, you've seen them all."

The Czarnian scoffed. "Indeed. Who needs them, right?"

Lobo laughed. "Yeah, exactly!"

The two quietly chuckled as they shared a laugh. Meanwhile, the customers around them started to inch ever so slightly toward the nearest exist, with some looking ready to spring at a moment's notice in order to escape the coming cataclysm.

"You want to have something to eat or drink before we get started?" The Czarnian asked.

Lobo thought it over for a second, then shrugged, settling down into the seat opposite him.

"Sure, why not?" He turned to the nearest waiter to his left. "Yo waiter!"

The waiter, a skinny purple-skinned runt in a tuxedo, approached, his form trembling.

"Y-y-y-yes, sir?" he said timidly.

"Get me the biggest glass of beer you have. I'm not talkin' those inky-dinky little faggoty things, I'm talking BIG. If it's no larger than this here meat hook, then heads are gonna roll."

The waiter gulped as he looked to the aforementioned weapon, then back to Lobo.

"R-r-r-right away, sir!"

As he scurried away in fright, Lobo looked back to the Czarnian seated opposite him.

"Kids today," Lobo shrugged. "Think he'll get it right?"

"He will," the other Czarnian replied. "After all, I disemboweled the last waiter before him right here. The cleaning staff remember that incident very well."

Lobo scoffed. "Shit, no wonder why the kid's scared shitless," he said. Looking back to the man opposite, Lobo folded his arms. "I gotta say, you are different from what I was expectin'."

The Czarnian arched a quizzical brow. "How so?"

Lobo leaned back into his seat. "Czarnia's a peaceful planet with peaceful people," he explained. "I wouldn't have figured ya fer a killer. In fact, I thought ya wouldn't have been able to stomach it. But yer aura...you really do have it. The killer instinct. Shame I have ta kill ya - you seem pretty fun."

The man gave a wry smirk to one side of his face.

"Haw! Please, you're making me blush." He then narrowed his eyes seriously. "Suppose I put it to you that you didn't murder Czarnia. What would you say?"

The Main Man barked out a laugh.

"I'd say yer full of it," he replied as the waiter came back with a giant pitcher. Grabbing the handle, Lobo gulped down his drink, then let out a loud belch that echoed throughout the bar. "Or ya have one hell of an imagination."

"And yet, you can't even remember what had happened." The man pointed out lightly.

Lobo shrugged. "It will come to me," he replied. "Everyone around this part of the galaxy knows that I killed my- our planet!"

"That is only...partially true." Came the enigmatic response, causing Lobo to pause in his sip.

Pulling the drink away from his mouth, the bounty hunter set his pitcher down on the table, looking straight at the man opposite him.

"Whaddya mean?" he demanded.

The man was quiet for a moment, then gave a dark chuckle, his eyes shining with nostalgia.

"Once upon a time," he began, "you were one of the most powerful and influential businessmen on Czarnia, Mr. Chairman. You and your family ran a very long and successful business that spanned across generations. A business involving...dolphins." He said the last part with a slight snarl of displeasure and detestation.

Lobo blinked in surprise. "Weird," he said slowly. "...I don't remember being a conservationist on our planet."

"That's because you weren't," the man said pointedly, his eyes narrowed into cold red slits. "Your family business was a fishery, one specializing in...killing dolphins."

Lobo felt his blood turn cold. "No..."

The man gave a sad smile. "I'm afraid so. Your family was good at it. Very successful at it. Too successful, in fact - you nearly drove the astro-dolphin population to extinction."

The bounty hunter clenched the handle of his pitcher.

"Now listen here you," he said in a low voice. "That's a lie! That's a goddamn lie! I would NEVER hurt a dolphin!"

The man clicked his tongue in his mouth.

"Funny," he said slowly, "because the first time we talked, you didn't give a damn about them whatsoever. You and your family were only too happy to butcher an innocent dolphin or two. It was a lucrative business, after all - about several million credits in meats, billions in fertilizer and machinery lubricants, something that was much needed for Czarnia's cybernetic augmentation and android market."

Lobo tightened his mouth, his face feeling hot with rage. His initial reaction was to lash out, but then he stopped himself as a realization dawned on him - the guy was deluded. Nuts. Coocoo for corn puffs.

Batshit crazy.

Upon realizing that, Lobo let out a laugh. Poor guy must have really lost it when Czarnia went to hell, and now here he was, a broken mess of a man who was completely split down the middle. A tiny part of Lobo felt pity for the guy.

"Ya got quite the imagination, buddy," Lobo grinned as he leaned back in his seat, enjoying himself. "This is actually quite entertainin'. Tell me more about this fantasy of yers. If I didn't kill Czarnia, who did?"

The man flashed a toothy grin as a response.

Lobo reared his head back as he howled with laughter.

"No," he said disbelievingly, full of humor. "No, no, no. Ya can't be serious."

The man joined in, laughing with him.

"It's true," he chuckled, giving a nod. "Granted, you were also part of it, but what happened with Czarnia? That was all me."

Lobo shook his head as he laughed. "You ballsy motherfucker," he grinned, not taking him seriously. "Tell me more."

The two Czarnians shared a quiet laugh, but everyone else around them were quiet, watching the pair as one would an explosive with a ticking timer.

"Like I said before," the man continued, "you were a successful businessman. In fact, you had expanded your family business and practically controlled everything in Czarnia itself, a rather impressive feat I have to admit. You also had eclectic tastes in music, appreciated the fine arts, had terrific wines, the best drugs money could buy, the most luxurious real estates, and a mansion that had been converted from one of Czarnia's largest ivory mountains. You even had your own theme park."

Lobo let out a low whistle. "Dang, man, I'm lovin' this fantasy of yers the more I hear about it," he said, grinning from ear to ear as he leaned forward. "Did I enjoy cigars?"

"Only the best that Czarnia had to offer," the man answered. "You had no tolerance for other brands."

"Hm." Taking out a cigar, Lobo snapped his talons together, producing a flame that rested on the edge of the claw on his index finger. Inhaling it deeply, the bounty hunter puffed out thick grey smoke in thought as he waved the tiny flame away. "What else did I have?"

The man gave a smile. "You had your own shuttle, servants, androids, pets of all varieties, illegal or otherwise. Several islands, moons, planets..." He took a sip from his glass. "A whole harem of women."

Lobo cackled. "Fuck yeah!" He raised his pitcher to the Czarnian opposite him. "Ya maybe a bullshit artist, but there's no denyin' you are one creative lil' bastich! Shit, whatever drugs you are on, I want double of that!"

He gulped down his drink.

"You also had a wife and daughter."

The admission made the bounty hunter pause mid-sip. The bar was deathly still and quiet, so silent that hardly anyone breathed. The only sounds that could be heard were the electrical hums of overhead fans and lightbulbs.

Putting the pitcher down, Lobo stared to the man opposite him.

"What was that?" he demanded.

The Czarnian took a sip from his glass.

"You heard me," he replied as he tilted his head coyly. "Don't you remember?"

Lobo scoffed. "Uh, not to burst your bubble, Clyde, but I would have remembered a thing like that."

The man gave a cruel smirk. "Would you?" He took another sip from his glass. "After all, this isn't the first time we have met."

Lobo blinked confusedly at his words.

"What?" he said, perplexed.

The smirk grew, revealing pointed fangs, his face darkening as his eyes lit up.

"The first time we had, you wanted me for a job," he explained. "You were quite insatiable in your appetites. Being the most powerful entrepreneur wasn't enough for you - you wanted to aim higher. You wanted control of the Czarnian government itself, and you figured that the best way to do so would be through blackmail. So, you commissioned me to make you into the most dangerous man there was on Czarnia."

"And how did you do that?" Lobo asked as he crossed his arms.

The Czarnian smiled, his eyes glowing.

"By creating the plague," he said simply. "While I may be an assassin by trade, I do specialize and innovate in my craft." He then chuckled. "It wasn't easy by any stretch of the imagination, but with the unlimited funds, access codes, laboratories and resources that you generously provided, I had ample time to experiment and research. Of course, once you gave me the keys to your kingdom, I took everything you had for my own purposes." His red eyes trailed down down his glass, staring into the red pool in his hand. "Your servants, harem, wife and daughter were by far the most useful test subjects. The data they provided was invaluable."

The man then raised his glass. "My gratitude."

As he quietly drank, Lobo exhaled.

"Well," the latter began slowly, "as amusing as this was, I think it's time I nipped this in the-"

The Czarnian cut Lobo off as he pulled out a disc with a red button in its center from his black jacket and flicked it across the table over to him. Blinking curiously, the bounty hunter glanced down at it, then raised his eyes to meet the man's.

"What's this?" he asked suspiciously.

The man merely sat there with his arms crossed, a smug grin locked on his face.

Picking it up, Lobo pressed the button, then watched as a three-dimensional holographic heads-up display appear over the table itself.

The image flickered and wavered, then reverted to normal as the man stared back from the screen, the scene set in some sort of sterile, white on white high-tech lab with transparent plexiglass chambers. In each little chamber was some person strapped down to a gurney.

"Test Log Number 385," the man spoke as distorted screams played from the speakers. "Subject Number 27 has been dosed with three milligrams of working prototype parasite sample."

"You bastard!" A familiar voice called out angrily. "Let them go! Let go of my wife and daughter!"

A smirk appeared on the man's face as he turned the camera towards the speaker, revealing a disheveled mess of a Czarnian, his once neat clothes, hair and handlebar mustache in disarray, causing Lobo to stop and stare open-mouthed in shock, his grip on his hook slackening.

"Language, Mr. Chairman!" The man playfully admonished before turning the camera away to a woman, her skin horribly jaundiced, casually resuming on with his report, "As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted-"

"You can't do this to me!" The man that was once Lobo screamed.

The speaker gave a devilish chuckle, and for a moment Lobo could imagine- envision him smirking. "That is where you are wrong, Mr. Chairman. You made this all possible, now hush, I have work to do." He resumed. "Once Subject Number 27 has been dosed-"

"I'll kill you, you sick fark!" The voice interrupted, causing the man to snarl in exasperation and set the camera down while he moved somewhere offscreen, "I swear to my ancestors if you lay a hand on my wife and daughter I'll farking-"

"POW!"

The patrons flinched at the impact, some jumping in their seats.

Lobo remained fixated on the screen, hearing a muffled groan as the man returned.

"There we are. Now, as I was saying, subject has been injected with three milligrams of working prototype parasite sample and has been put under heavy observation and quarantine. Subject has demonstrated mild resistance, which suggests potential antibodies in her system. I will need to conduct a thorough examination and autopsy in order to be certain that there isn't some other causal factor. With any luck, there will be, and then I'll be able to create a more potent variant."

Lobo watched in numb horror as more was unfolded on screen. The bar was quiet and as still as a tomb as the sounds of the audio echoed a hellish choir full of screams, the sounds of Czarnia's earliest victims come to voice their wretched fate. Some of the patrons were throwing up in disgust while others were sniffing and crying at the sheer callousness on display, although mostly it was in response to the reactions of the man that Lobo used to be as little by little he cracked at the seams, the haughty arrogance replaced with a wretched pleading for mercy as he called out to his wife and child.

The video jumped at certain points at different times now and then, and it was gruesome, but it was all consistent in its presentation; despite the horrible content, the man presented it all with all of the cold, clinical detachment of a seasoned professional physician, thorough in his reports and examinations.

Lobo prided himself on being able to have a tolerance for pain, tried telling himself that what he was seeing on screen wasn't real...but then he saw something that shook him to his core.

"Daddy! Daddy!" A teenage girl probably no older than nineteen screamed. "Daddy please help me!"

A young girl with heart-shaped face and long black hair, wearing blue sapphire earrings, her emerald dress rumpled and filthy.

"...Nava," Lobo spoke softly. Dropping the hook, he raised a calloused hand and traced his fingers along the girl's face.

"Everything is going to be okay, sweetie," he promised on screen, choking back his tears. "Daddy will get you out of here, I promise."

Lobo watched the screen, too powerless to attempt to move, too powerless to even turn away, his hands shaking the more he stared.

Meanwhile, all throughout, the man seated opposite him coolly watched his reactions with a smile on his face, his eyes shining with a horrible demonic glee.

"Test Log Number-"

The man in the video was cut off as Lobo completely broke down, a ruined wreck of a man that was a shell of his former self. Looking up, he pleaded with a sob in his voice, "Please. Let-Let my wife and daughter go. I'll-I'll do whatever you want. I'll-I'll give you whatever you want. I'll-I'll give you everything I have! Just...let them go..."

The other Czarnian was quiet for a long while, his face betraying nothing. Finally, he spoke.

"You already have."

As Lobo's wife and daughter screamed in the video, something in Lobo snapped.

"NO!" Lunging from his chair, he flew at the man opposite him in a rage, grabbing his lapel with one hand as he threw a punch. "MURDERER!"

The man cackled as he blocked his attacks, grabbing his arms before countering with a headbutt that caused Lobo to fall onto his back and see stars.

Letting out a groan, Lobo tried to push himself up when he felt a weight on his chest pinning him down, followed by a series of powerful blows that repeatedly jackhammered into him with such speed and ferocity, catching him completely off-guard.

"You thought you could beat me?! Me?!" The man ranted as he pounded into his opponent. "Guess what, loser - many have tried! Other inferior brand assassins use guns, lasers and bombs on their prey, but not me, kiddo! I use my hands! Dirty work, sure - but somebody's gotta to do it! And this way," he paused meaningfully, giving the ugliest smile Lobo had ever seen that made him look like a rabid hungry wolf, "I get the personal satisfaction of a job well done!"

He continued walloping Lobo, hitting him over and over again. Breaking his limbs, the mad Czarnian pummeled away, punching so hard as to cause significant bruising, the blows carefully calculated to avoid any bleeding.

He wasn't even sure if his healing factor would even allow him to recover, at least as quickly as he hoped. Finally, when the man finished, Lobo heard him get up and calmly turned off the video.

Lobo tried to move his face, his mouth in particular to speak, but it felt so incredibly sore. So sore that he couldn't even open his eyes.

Finally, when he was able to regain some feeling in his jaw and lips, he then asked one word.

"Why?"

He heard a clink of a glass.

"Why?" The man repeated as he snickered. "Why not? The truth is that I had been wanting to kill Czarnia for quite sometime." He gave a derisive scoff. "It wasn't hard to implant the idea of blackmailing the Czarnian government with a biological weapon into your thick skull. You were the most arrogant and foolhardy of the bunch with the capital and resources necessary to make such a thing possible, and I capitalized on it." He paused meaningfully, thoughtfully. "Of course, you were more than a mere paycheck."

Lobo groaned. "What-What do you mean?"

One eye slowly healed, allowing him to see the man as he looked at him with a smirk.

"Isn't it obvious?" he asked, as if it was the most obvious answer in the world.

Lobo blinked in confusion, causing the man to laugh.

"You should see the look on your face! You are such an idiot!" The latter said between breaths, shaking his head. "That's why you're the perfect fall guy. So simple. So charmingly stupid. You see, somebody had to take the fall for Czarnia. After all, it was in a sector that was supposed to be protected by the Lanterns, and if there's anything they hate, it's the knowledge of their failure." The smirk grew as he ran his tongue over his fanged teeth like a hungry animal. "And if there's anything that I love outside of dolphins and wanton violence, it's fucking with the Lanterns. I killed Czarnia as a joke, and you were its punchline."

The Main Man felt his mind reel at the admission, his whole worldview shattered.

The other Czarnian looked down at him, his smirk never leaving his face.

"Of course, I had to make certain adjustments to you in order to make the gag work," he continued. "It wasn't hard to break you. A little bit of this, a little bit of that. Some torture and mutilation here, a little lobotomy there, combined with some mind-altering substances, and boom, your brain can be reshaped into whatever I desired. Hell, I have reshaped your mind so many times that I doubt you even remember your own name at this point!"

Lobo tried to rise.

"I...I am...the Main Man!" He said with grit teeth. "I...am...LOBO!"

The man stood still, then gave a low chuckle, shaking his head in a slow manner.

"My point exactly," he said as he approached. His chuckle grew, his eyes a pair of shining rubies. "You know, I have been watching you for a quite while now. While I try to remain professional most of the time...I will admit, you have been quite entertaining. I even uploaded some of your misadventures onto my own personal computer!" His chuckle ceased. "Sadly, as fun as it was seeing you again, Mr. Chairman...I'm afraid our time is up."

Lobo barked out a laugh in defiance. "You think you can kill the Main Man?! Sorry to burst yer bubble, but I've been banned from the Afterlife!"

The man raised a bony brow.

"Have you?" he said in a bored voice.

"Yeah!" Lobo said proudly. "Heaven rejected me, and Hell refuses to take me! I even got a contract with God saying that my soul is off-limits!"

The Czarnian chuckled darkly. "What an amusing hallucination."

Lobo watched as he pulled out a small vial from his jacket pocket that was filled with a thick yellowish haze.

"What's that?" Lobo asked.

The Czarnian said nothing, offering nothing but a cruel smile. As he came closer, Lobo glanced to the vial in his hand, his eye widening in recognition.

"Ahh, so you remember this special little cocktail, I see," the Czarnian said as he waved it around with one hand. "And here I thought your brain was totally scrambled. I like to carry one of these around with me as a way of reminding myself of the good times we had together. That...and to celebrate Czarnia's anniversary! The sad thing about it is that you can only do it the once. So, I've been keeping you around for years, if only to celebrate that momentous event! And what better way to celebrate it than by reenacting our little planet-wide send-off?"

Kneeling beside him, the man sneered down at him as he flicked the lid off.

Lobo tried to swing his hook when the man reared himself back, the weapon missing him by mere inches as he grabbed hold of it and wrenched it away from his grip.

Looking at the hook, the man smiled.

"Ah, I remember this. You want to know the story behind this, Clyde? This used to be one of the hooks your company used to gut innocent little dolphins. I took this as a trophy after Czarnia fell and used it on your wife and daughter once they outlived their usefulness." He inhaled deeply through his nostrils, smirking down at Lobo. "Still has their scent, even after all these years." The man then gave a thoughtful and considerate look. "It has been a real treat seeing you again, Mr. Chairman. I look forward to our next meeting."

Lobo blinked. "What? You're not going to kill me?" he said in confusion.

The man laughed. "No. Well, not really. The truth is, it gets boring not having another Czarnian to frag. Every year I commemorate the slaying of our planet by resurrecting you over and over again, thereby giving me an excuse to use this." 

Grabbing the downed figure by his hair, the real Lobo stuffed the vial into his victim's mouth as his expression changed, his cleanshaven mouth grinning savagely as the man beneath him flailed and gagged.

"Have a drink, my friend!" Lobo sneered. "Have a long drink!"

* * *

Screams echoed across the planet and from the bar as Lobo emerged, dragging the still form of his captive with the meat hook that he had carried with him. Looking down at the pitiful fool, he allowed a satisfied smirk form, the hook markings on the corners of his mouth stretching.

"Heh, this never gets old." He said to himself as he went over to his motorcycle. As he drew closer, his bike's communication systems pinged. Pressing a button, he watched as a hologram shimmered in the air ahead of him, revealing a handsome green humanoid face with yellow hair.

"Well, well, well, isn't this a surprise," Lobo commented. "What do you want, Dox?"

Vril Dox nodded. "Lobo," he greeted. "Where are you?"

The assassin shrugged. "At a bar, just leaving in fact."

"Why am I not surprised," Dox said to himself. "Listen, I have a job for you-"

"It will have to wait," Lobo interrupted. "I'm a little busy at the moment, Clyde. I'll contact you later after I finished up with something."

Without even bothering to give the Coluan a chance to even respond, Lobo shut down his communications, his eyes going back to the bloated form of his victim. Reaching into the latter's leather vest, he fished out a cigar, then flicked his black talons together. Lighting it up, Lobo inhaled deeply and puffed, exhaling out smoke as he stood there, relishing the sounds of screaming as he smirked down at the former Chairman from his home planet.

"Thanks for the cigar and the memories, pal," The Main Man said as he stubbed it into his eye socket. Looking to his bike, Lobo pressed a button, then watched as a heads-up display appeared with a blinking red light, his red eyes scrutinizing everything with a careful eye, not missing anything.

It was still recording, just as he hoped.

Good.

Stopping the recording, Lobo started to briefly scan through the footage. No problems. Another good sign.

Now he could take the data home with him for further examination and compare the combat data of this species of parasite with previous ones.

Folding his arms together, Lobo ran his claws fingers along his chin in contemplation.

Maybe he should consider selling this product. After all, the bioweapons market was a booming industry, so why not corner the market and make it his bitch?

Lobo smirked at the thought. He should look into that possibility sometime. After all, companies were spending billions on weaponry, plus it would give him an excuse to innovate and improve upon his craft even more. He could sell one planet one version of the parasite, sell an opposing side another...

Lobo slushed his tongue over his sharp teeth, a dark smile on his face as his mind worked on overtime, considering the limitless possibilities.

Yes, he could see new horizons in the distance. He could see them so clearly that he could practically taste it. Even more, he could see potential areas where the parasite could be improved upon.

Hell, maybe one day Lobo could make it strong enough to infect and kill a New God.

He cackled darkly.

'Wouldn't that be something!' Came the thought.

Looking down to the Czarnian by his feet, Lobo turned off the hologram and took out a syringe, stabbed it into the former Chairman as he took a sample of his blood. Once he finished, the assassin then put a cap on the needle and carefully stored it into a compartment at the back of the space-cycle's seat.

"The combat data from your infection will be most valuable," Lobo spoke to the unconscious man. "My gratitude for your continued assistance."

Mounting himself onto his trusty space-cycle, Lobo gave one last glance to the fallen figure, then sneered contemptuously at him.

"I look forward to our next reunion."

With that dismissive call, Lobo departed, blasting off to the sky on his space-cycle, disappearing into the blackness of night.

* * *

Author's Note: This had been my original idea before I decided to work on "The Man In Red".

So, for a long time I had been an avid reader of Lobo, starting with his "Omega Men" stuff. While his costume was kind of goofy at the time, admittedly, I was intrigued by the character. Then, when I read his JLI and L.E.G.I.O.N. run from the late 80s, I became a huge fan, and to this day, late 80s Lobo is my favorite incarnation of the character, even if it was relatively brief.

Just to give you guys context, this is the Lobo I'm talking about:

Looking at the character as he is mostly viewed now as opposed to how he was then, there's quite a world of difference between the two versions.

Whereas 90s Lobo had pretty much been a Space Hells Angel with a slurred speech, often portrayed as a wild, loutish, unthinking brute, late 80s Lobo in contrast was actually a surprisingly witty, deceptively intelligent and even polite character, a sort of "space tough guy with a bike". I think the best way to describe the latter was as an interstellar version of the Man With No Name that favored using his fists instead of weapons, a guy who can be quite civil, even when he was killing people (he is a bad guy).

Whereas 90s Lobo was a wild brawler, 80s Lobo seemed much more controlled and athletic, possessing a certain degree of finesse in his movements and fighting which seemed to suggest some form of training. It was also the latter version that introduced the idea of Lobo's long running connection to the 'space dolphins', creatures that he was fiercely protective of and provided a sanctuary for.

Looking at the character's portrayal, I couldn't help make note of some of the inconsistencies in his design and story. On one hand, you have one version of his backstory with the parasite, while another stated that he murdered everyone with just his bare hands (which would be even worse), while yet another stated that he blew up the planet.

One version is like his namesake, a lean predator whose appearance deceptively hides how powerful he truly is, while the other is really hairy and hyper-masculine, almost 'roided out.

That was when it occurred to me - what if there were two Lobos? What if one was the original Lobo while the other was another Czarnian? So, I thought I would write up and explore such a possibility. That was, until New 52 Lobo came onto the scene.

Any form of feedback would be greatly appreciated, but please refrain from trolling or saying things like "dis sux", "dis is shit", etc.

Hope you enjoyed this, everyone. Take care! :)