Friday, July 25, 2008

The Vile Menagerie: INFLICT



"The Extrasolar Wars were won millions of years before the light of their occurrence" will ever reach Earth. The victors were the Conquerer Rex, "with nothing left to fear except boredom. Masters now of time, folding dimensions to their will. What's left for them? Conquest. Not war or glory. The fashion of conquest. These are the fashion elite."

Seven days prior to the otherworldly Feast announcing the presence of these beings and itself to the JLA, insectoid "sampler drones" powerful enough to cut through Superman's flesh were sent to test the genetic make-up of the planet. As described by Feast, they were part of "Field work for a lucrative project we were contracted for. We expected carbon-based yellow sun life-forms. Exactly what we needed, except... well, we're talking bonus situation. A Martian xenomorph. An Oan power battery. A being linked to the Speed Source. Themysciran clay. Kryptonian solar energy-absorbing cells. And your 'Plastic' Man? We're still analyzing those samples..." At the Feast's recommendation, based on both terran supplies and the unexpected appearance of metahuman protectors, the Conquerer Rex had come to indulge their visceral cravings with our planet's resources. Of its contractors, Feast declared, "I live every moment in terror they'll turn on me. But oh, what they pay me to organise these outings for them... and I'm ready to settle down.

Three days prior, everyone on Earth started becoming indestructible, and by extension stopped dying. This was caused by an RNA mist released by the Feast. "You don't think I want to destroy this sad little water-marble? The Earth, after executive combatants defeat any super-powered threat, will become a no-die breeding ground for parts. The moon will be a spa for interstellar conquerors. With an endless supply of enhanced flesh, bone, blood and muscle for treatments. Soon even your wildlife, your insects..."

Feast was assigned the Batman to defeat on the Watchtower. The Martian Manhunter seemingly faced his opponent on Mars. "Inflict, trained and tortured by a thousand extinct death-tribes... fulfilling a destiny left unfinished and bleeding in the red Martian soil." Innocents experienced deathless Hell on Earth and beyond, with a mound of Inflict's victims laying at his feet as the Manhunter struggled against the cruel, monolithic barbarian. The skulls and other sundry parts of peoples Inflict had annihilated were bound around his neck, wrist, and calves. His visage was masked by a mass of long, thick hair. Nonetheless, the Manhunter ultimately stood victorious, bearing a severed horn from Inflict's head. So too did the rest of the JLA.

Of Inflict and the rest of Conqueror Rex, the Batman observed, "Our planet's got a Goldilocks orbit. Not too hot, not too cold. Prime real estate. It's the price we pay. But... Justice is always ready. That's why evil always fails. There's only one kind of good, and it's all evil ever gets to battle. Makes it weak and narrow-minded. There's an endless variety of evil. And good's got a lifetime of tricks up its sleeve. We learn from the best. Didn't you ever think of it that way? Feast didn't. None of them do."

Real Name: Unknown
Occupation: Alien Warlord
Group Affiliation: Conqueror Rex
Base of Operations: Mobile
First Appearance: JLA: Welcome To The Working Week (2003)
Height: Approx. 3-5 Stories Tall
Build: Muscular
Eyes: Unknown
Hair: Light

Powers: Incredible strength and endurance, among probable others left undefined.

Weapons: A titanic warhammer/ax.

Created by Patton Oswalt and Patrick Gleason

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