Collaborative Fiction: "The One Who Became Many. The Many Who Were One."

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"The One Who Became Many. The Many Who Were One."  a Suicide Squad origin story
Collaborative Writing by
 
‡ Harlequin Rogue ‡, ID: 13807 and
‡ KเⱠⱠⱾWเƮCH ‡, ID: 11053 of  

SUICIDE SQUAD  


Darren, only 12 at the time, was sleeping quietly when the voice whispered gently into his ear.  

"Darren, wake up. We must go. I have to show you something." said a gentle, but masculine voice with a heavy African accent.  



Groggily, Darren yawned and stretched, then rubbed his eyes before they opened. He looked at the man in front of him and realized he didn't know him. Still, the man had a calming effect over young Darren. Darren sat up and took a better look at the man.  

He was a tall, black male with strong shoulders and a kind face. He wore robes of white that were long, but simple. His tight curly black hair was cropped close to his head. On his back, dark brown, feathered wings that matched the color of his skin sat folded at rest. As Darren looked at him, the man stretched out his hand.  

"Come with me, Darren." he said, and Darren trustingly went with him.  



As Darren took his hand, the man turned and began to walk, leading Darren. Darren's room suddenly faded as the floors and walls to his room turned into mist and cloud. All around them it was like this, and Darren could not see where he was going. He couldn't even see where his feet were stepping. But always, the ground was level and sure. They walked for only a short time before the clouds and mist parted some and something else came into view.  

Darren could make out an opening in the cloud floor. It was a large hole in the clouds and below it, from where Darren could see at this point, was nothing but open sky. As he and his guide walked towards the great sky hole, he could see others gathering to the hole as well. Like he and his guide, they came two by two, one angel and one child, to stand and fill the edges of the hole. As Darren and his own angel took their places, Darren looked at all the other pairs that stood there at the edge of this massively gigantic hole in the sky. He tried to count them, but they were too numerous. Darren's guide put his hand on Darren's shoulder and pointed to the opening everyone had gathered around.  

"Look." he said, "There, in the center, is what I have brought you to see."  

Darren squinted his eyes and tried to focus on what his guide was pointing to. There in the center, what seemed so great a distance that the hole by comparison was made to seem larger still, was a gathering of two armies of angels, both poised for battle. On one side, an army made up of philosophers and poets, artists and musicians, builders and creators, but great warriors too. On the other, an army only half the size, but brazen and bold, each, ready to tear down the pillars that held the sky in place, if that's what it took to claim victory.  

Darren was amazed he could see it. It hadn't been there before he had tried. And now that he was truly focusing, that great distance away seemed to grow closer until he thought he too was on the battlefield. He walked closer to the front lines unnoticed by the two armies,where he could get a better view and hear what was being said. A dark haired angel with armor of gold and fire stepped forth from the smaller army.

"FATHER!" he cried out. "This contest is not fair, and You know it! My warriors are the better here! Your only advantage is Your numbers and YOU! This is no true contest of who is right and who is wrong!"

Then, Darren was overcome by a omnipotent energy that blanketed the battlefield. Its presence brought all on both sides to their knees, either in fear or reverence. It could not be seen, but all present knew it was there. Darren knew that he was now in the presence of God.

"And what would you deem a fair contest, my wayward child?" a voice that was felt, rather than heard, boomed forth in the minds of Darren and the two armies. "You cast disdain on my commandments. You divide my house. You take a third of my children away from me. You do not trust me, and yet, you claim that your love is more value than those that do, Shataniel?"

"These hairless monkeys, made from spit and the dung ridden soil? These are the ones You love above us? These are the ones you give dominion to?" screamed the one God addressed as Shataniel. "They do not know You like I do! They do not even know themselves! They are still barely even children! Leave them to their own devices and they will fail You every time!"

"Not every time." answered God. "But you have not answered my question. Why have you gathered us here? What do you deem a fair contest to prove which of us is right, you or I. No matter the outcome, I can tell you with authority, I AM."

Shataniel felt baited. He did not know what God had planned, but he couldn't back down now. There was too much at stake.

"Let us each send one champion to fight for their side! Let the victor decide who is justified!" he said.

"And if I allow this, what is the prize?" asked God. "What is it we are fighting for, other than your pride?"

Shataniel winced. God's words bit him to the core. Still, he replied.

"Dominion over this mudball You built for these monkeys. Dominion and control over them, so my brothers and I can show You how wrong you are about them! So we can show You they are not worthy of Your love and affection over us, Your sons since the dawn of creation!"

"Since the dawn of your creation." God corrected him. "I created these beings of mud and soil. I built them from the ground up, quite literally. I built them to express unconditional love, and I know that many will fail, but the ones who succeed were meant to replace you at my side, my child. You see, I knew this day would come, when you would challenge Me. Truly, it broke My heart that you could not trust Me and would turn away. That is why I created the Manchild, Adama. You wish to test Man, but Man was your own test. Man was the test you and one third of your brothers failed. But I agree to your terms. Who is your champion?"

Shataniel was taken aback at God's words. Man was his test? NO! He would not fail to this creature he so despised! More than ever, he felt the urgency behind this fight. And more than ever, he was angered at the thought of kneeling before Mankind. He held up his sword and addressed the two armies.

"I am our champion!" he exclaimed to the crowds. "Let my brother, Mikael come forward to face me! It is time to see finally, which of us is the better!"

Darren saw another angel step forward, his armor gleaming of gold, his robes were the stuff of shining light. Even Shataniel had to shield his eyes from the majesty that was Mikael. But God stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.

"No, Mikael." God said. "I know you would show us great honor on the field, but I have chosen another."

"But Father," Mikael started to protest, "I am your greatest warrior. Shataniel cannot best me. Let me send him away for You with his tail between his legs."

"No, my beloved son." God replied. "I know you would fight well, and that you would end this contest in My name. But that is not part of my plan. Know Me and trust in Me. Would I ever be wrong?"

Mikael bowed his head and stepped back into his place among God's elite. Even Shataniel was in shock. What was God doing? Why would He not send His greatest warrior? This was starting to turn in his favor. That was when God called forth the angel of His choice. For some reason, Darren couldn't hear the name. It was as though it was hidden from him purposely. But Darren saw him. His vision was drawn to him instinctively.

The angel was slight of build, unlike the powerful Mikael. His armor was mere robes of sky blue. In his hand he held a harp and in his belt he held a hammer and chisels and an artist's brushes. Everyone looked in astonishment. This was not a warrior. This was an artist, a musician, a poet. He was not a bringer of wrath, but a creator of beauty and tranquility. What could he do against a warrior as fearsome as Shataniel?. What was God thinking? What rational made sense of this? But the angel raised his head, surprised as anyone at hearing his name, and stepped forward. He did not know what God's plan was. To him, to anyone, it didn't seem to make sense. But he stepped forward anyway, trusting in God's wisdom, though he did not understand it.

A murmur went through the crowd. Shock and awe spread through the ranks of both sides as this artist stepped bravely to face what must surely be his end, to face a foe that far outclassed him in warfare, with nothing but the faith he held in his heart for God to bolster him. He looked down at his hammer, normally used to shape stone into sculpture, the same hammer God had commanded him to use to carve the mountains and the valleys of the world he would now fight for. Taking it in his hand, he looked once more at God and smiled, love and trust in his eyes. With a firm resolve, he raised his hammer and charged in the direction of Shantaniel.

Shataniel was ecstatic. This fool, this artist, was charging him with a maker's hammer. God must have lost his senses. This was all the more reason to rebel. This would surely show everyone that God was wrong and should step aside. Shataniel even went so far as to imagine himself crowned king of Heaven after this debacle on God's part. With a wry smile, he took his sword and went to meet his foolish brother in immortal combat.

The two adversaries collided with a loud clash. Shataniel's sword struck through the hammer of God's champion and shattered it. The blade continued on where it struck the artist down. There was a deafening roar from Shataniel's side as the angel that had been struck fell from the sky.

Suddenly, Darren was back at the edge of the hole and away from the field of battle along with all the others who had been watching like him. He began to step forward, determined to make a difference in the outcome of the battle, but he was stopped by the hand of his guide on his shoulder.

"We can still win this!" Darren pleaded with his guide. "There are more than double their number on God's side, and those of us at the circle's edge are equal in number to Shataniel's army!"

"No, Darren." said his guide. "This has already taken place. You are not actually seeing this when it happened. You were only brought here to see, so that you would understand."

"Understand what?" Darren asked. "That God should have chosen Mikael?"

"No, Darren. God did not want His most powerful warrior to be His champion. He wanted the angel closest to hHis heart. He wanted his champion to love Him without question, willing to sacrifice it all for His glory. No, God did not want His mightiest warrior. He wanted the one that loved Him most." he answered, as he pointed once more to the center of the circle in the sky. "Look."

Darren looked again. He could see the armies of Shataniel's cries of jubilation turn into screams of horror as they realized their mistake. He could see as the angel that had been struck down, fell from the sky and plummeted Earthward. As the spark of life within him faded, his body turned to crystal the hue of his robes. Darren could see the crystaline structure begin to glow brightly, as it burned in Earth's atmosphere and fell like a meteor. As it did, it began to crack and splinter into shards that spread out across the Earth in different places and different times. And everywhere these shards fell, they fell into the hearts of men and women, the children of Adama. And where they landed, they began to glow with life once more. Shataniel and his minions charged to Earth, set on extinguishing the shards before they could fulfill the destiny God's plan had set into motion.

Darren's Jaw dropped as the weight of what he had been shown began to dawn on him. He looked up to see all the others that had been shown, still standing at the sky hole's edge like him. In their chests began to glow the blue shards of crystal that had once been the body of the angel that loved God so much, he died for Him. Darren looked at his guide, and then his own chest where he saw his own shard glowing brightly.

"Shataniel has sent a great evil to Earth, Darren" his guide told him. "You must gather the shards of your time, and bring them together to fight it. You all are The One Who Became Many. The Many Who Are One. Go and find them, the ones who are the one who loved God most. Shataniel will try to corrupt as many of you as he can, or extinguish you if he cannot. You must save the ones who will aid you and cleanse the ones that have been corrupted. Your strength is in your faith and your numbers. I will send you allies to help on your quest. But you must go now. Gather them."

Darren's guide suddenly but gently shoved him away from the circle and back into the cloudy nothingness. Darren stumbled and tripped, falling backwards, before being engulfed completely. Suddenly, he was in his bed again, the misty landscape now gone. He sat up, not sure what to make of such an odd dream. But that's when he saw it, his reflection in a mirror. And in that reflection he saw that bright blue glow in his chest screaming at him to recognize it, before fading. He realized then that it hadn't been a dream at all. He had been called. He had been chosen. No matter what it cost, he had to bring them together.