Hey there, fellow horror geeks and monsterphiles! Prometheus here with our Killer Kids Bracket Final Round! Today we have two fierce competitors for you, and let’s be honest. We all knew it would come to this. DAMIEN (The Omen) VS BRANDON (Brightburn)! Who wins? The son of the Devil, or evil Superboy? I have your answer! Let’s go! As always in the semi-finals and finals, the intros will be shorter, being the fighters have all been introduced at length.
DAMIEN
Born on the sixth day of the sixth month, at six o’clock in the morning… to a jackal, Damien is the anti-Christ, son of Lucifer. Sent to Earth with one purpose. Bringing it to its knees. His power is undeniable, and few can step toe to toe with this terrible tot, AKA the Dark Messiah. It is said that the only way to truly kill him
BRANDON
With traits and abilities that mirror Superman’s, it’s safe to say that Brandon is not to be taken lightly. He is invulnerable to most physical attacks, can shoot lasers from his eyes, and has superhuman level strength. His only known weakness it the metal that his spaceship is made from.
FIGHT!
His power grew immensely since coming to Gatlin, and so did his confidence. His ability to control others, and the objects around him now fully realized. No longer did he fight with the notion of who he might be. He was fully aware now, and more importantly, fully accepting of his father’s mission.
The children follow him like a messiah, and why shouldn’t they. They were peons, simpletons in comparison. Still, even the dullest tool will do the job in most cases. He didn’t need brains. What he needed was people that will follow orders, and that they did well.
“The greatest crimes in the world are not committed by people breaking the rules but by people following the rules. It's people who follow orders that drop bombs and massacre villages.”
Now there was a Banksy quote, and a truth, that he could appreciate. As he stands in a large opening within the cornfields, the town’s children gathered around him, he raises his hand to silence to the crowd. “My children, I have gathered you here for a reason.” The moon shines brightly upon his boyish face as the crowd hangs on his every word. “The time is almost upon us. Bring it to me.”
“Death to the Outlander!” they reply in unison.
Damien cracks a slight smile. “Indeed.”
Across town around the same time, Brandon’s feet touch back down on to the soil. He reads the old-fashioned wood sign. “Welcome to Gatlin, Nebraska.” Just what he was looking for. The last place the Man in Black said he was going. One of them must be here. Probably hiding somewhere in these retched cornfields.
His first stop is a small, old-looking store on the main road. The wood door opens, and slams shut behind him as he enters the building. The light shines through the windows causing a crisscross beam effect, as it reflects off the dust particles in the air. The floor creaks, and moans under his feet with every step. There would be no element of surprise here.
“Who are you?” asks the small, black-haired child sitting behind the counter. “Never seen you ‘round here before.”
“Do you work here?” asks Brandon. The small, timid child couldn’t be older than 12.
“Since last week when my brother got hit by a truck. What do you want?”
“I’m Brandon, and I’m looking for someone.” His smile is warm and genuine. “A man, wears all black, all the time. Even his hat and shoes are as dark as the night. He’s not ugly, but he’s especially hard to look at.”
“Traveling with a child? A boy?”
“Yeah, that’s him.”
The boy pauses for a moment. “Sorry. Don’t know him.”
“But you just…”
“I think it best if you go.”
“I asked you a question. I’m not leaving until I get an answer. If you’re smart, you’ll answer quickly. You know, before I get upset.”
“That might be a bad idea. You should leave while you still can.”
“Who’s proposing to stop me? You? All by yourself? Strange. I didn’t take you for brave.”
“Not me. I am only a servant, but if he finds out you’re here…. You’ll wish you had listened.”
“The Man in Black?”
The child scoffs and spits on the floor. “The Misleader is gone. Sacrificed for being an imposter to the real savior. The real He Who Walks Behind the Rows.”
“Look, kid. I’m not from around here. I don’t know what any of that means. How about you just tell me who he is before I vaporize you.” Brandon’s eyes glow red, starting off as a dull hue and becoming brighter toward the end of his sentence.
“I’m not telling you anyth…”
Brandon laughs as the body of the young child bursts in front of him like a watermelon hit with a twelve-gauge shotgun - at close range. “Guess not.”
Suddenly, the door swings open. “Johnny, let’s go. We’re going to be late.”
As the footsteps get closer, Brandon slides on his mask.
“Come on, Johnny. They already brought it to him. Everyone’s there but us. I don’t want to miss th…” the intruding child stops short at the sight of Brandon standing over a puddle that used to be his friend. “Who the hell are you?”
“Where were you two headed?”
“What did you do to Johnny? He won’t like this. He won’t like this at all.”
“Funny. Your friend said the same thing. Does it look like I cared?” Before the kid can answer Brandon has him by the throat. He lifts him up a few inches off the ground and holds him there as he applies pressure to the Adam’s apple. “Bring me to him.”
“No! He’ll kill us both!” The words are garbled and strung together, but Brandon manages to understand.
“You know, that first word there sounded an awful lot like no. Hey, remember when you asked what I did to Johnny?” His eyes begin to glow red once again, as the child stares in horror.
“The cornfields!” he exclaims. “They’re in the cornfields!”
The red eyes grow brighter, still.
“Take the path behind the store, head north until you hit the clearing. You’ll find them, I swear!”
The child falls to the floor like dead weight as Brandon relinquishes his iron grip. As he lay on his back struggling to gain his breath, Brandon stands over him. “Let’s go.”
“What? But I told you how to find them.”
“Fair enough,” he replies. He brings his foot down upon his face slowly, applying more force every few moments. The kid’s body wiggles and writhes beneath him, his head held firmly in place as the pressure builds. The first thing to go is his nose. It cracks and snaps as the bone and cartilage give way to the weight of Brandon’s strength. Blood leaks first from the nostrils, and then as the foot bears down harder, the ears.
A moment later, the screaming stops as his face caves into the rest of his skull. Blood, mucus, and grey matter squirt out from the sides of Brandon’s shoe.
“So weak, and fragile.” He shakes his leg, breaking his foot loose from what was left of the child’s head. “Pathetic.”
He bursts through the ceiling of the store, no longer caring about secrecy. Flying along the path north, he spots a fire in the middle of the cornfield up ahead. A large group of kids is gathered, as another addresses them. Ready to end this now, he lands hard in the middle of the crowd leaving an indent in the ground and scattering the kids closest to him. He looks up, his eyes bright red behind his mask. “Who is in charge here?”
“Get him!” yells Damien. “Get the Outlander!”
The children gather around Brandon, circling him, waiting for the right moment to strike. One of them charges in and Brandon lets off a blast, covering the other children with his soft insides. As the circle shrinks around him, Brandon lets off several more shots, exploding five to six more of them before they reach him.
Their knives and sickles prove useless against Brandon’s impenetrable skin as each attack fails to do any harm. He laughs as they crowd on top of him like a schoolyard pig pile. After a few moments, the pile erupts from below, sending the remaining ten children into the air effortlessly.
An unscathed Brandon stands up, the only evidence of a scuffle is his crooked mask. He pulls it off his head as he scans the clearing for their leader. Two of the kids charge at him. He punches the first one, removing his head entirely. The second one stabs Brandon in the stomach, and as the blade bounces off, Brandon rips off both of his arms as easily as peeling a string cheese.
The kid faints and falls to the ground bleeding out. The others come running, weapons high in the air. Using the two dismembered limbs, Brandon efficiently beats them all to death. One by one as the others try fruitlessly to subdue him until the last one stops moving. Blood covers his face, hands, and the front of his clothes entirely. It bothers him not.
The only thing on his mind now is ending this. As he turns around, Damien jams a piece of jagged metal deep into his stomach. As he twists it inside of him, Brandon looks down in shock. “It can’t be…” Blood drips from the corner of his mouth.
“What’s the matter? Don’t recognize a piece of your own ship when you see one? Did you think I wouldn’t know you were coming?” Damien removes the crude, bloody piece of metal from Brandon’s stomach. “Who do you think I am? I can see all past events. Including when you landed here, and when you cut your finger trying to sneak back into your ship.”
“No, impossible.”
Damien grabs Brandon by the hair, lifting his head. “You’re way out of your league.” The metal slices through Brandon’s throat like a hot blade through butter. His blood flows like any normal boy’s as it pours out, covering the earth below.
He rummages through Brandon’s pockets retrieving his cell phone and looks around the clearing at all the dead. Suddenly, he has an idea. He opens a website, AICN, and scrolls straight to the Talkbacks… Time to find some new followers.
DAMIEN
There you have it! Damien takes the Killer Kids bracket, joining Jason Voorhees, The Thing, Dracula, Hannibal Lecter, and The Kandarian Demon in our Finalists bracket!
I think this is a pretty accurate depiction of how a fight between these two would go. It was a close call for me until I realized there’s one reason Brandon couldn’t beat Damien. Damien would see it coming. He would be ready. As you see in the beginning of our story, Damien had a piece of Brandon’s ship brought to him and was waiting for his arrival.
Sure, if Brandon had the drop on Damien, there’s a chance he could win. I just don’t see that happening. Especially once Damien has realized his power and true purpose. What do you think? Am I way off? Yell at me in the comments below! I will announce our next bracket soon!
Until next time, keep on geekin’ on, my friends!
Joshua “Prometheus” Scafidi
