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Alden Quench, also known as the Bad Samaritan, is a mysterious man empowered by the Fires of Destruction from deep within the World Forge.

Origin

Alden performed a ritual to see the source of creation. The ritual showed him the World Forge, and also bestowed him with the Fires of Destruction, a destructive force that destroys matter and sends it to the Forge. Alden later became haunted by the call of Mandrakk, the Dark Monitor, who was trapped in the Dark Multiverse after his battle with Superman. Hearing the call in his mind constantly annoyed Alden enough that he began searching for a way to get to Mandrakk to get his voice out of his head. Using his powers, he began destroying realities in the hopes that the remains of those worlds would sink into the Dark Multiverse, but none of his efforts worked. On top of that, his actions put him in conflict with the Judge of All Evil on top of having to deal with his arch-rival, Neon the Unknown, who was given powers by the same ritual as him. As his opposite, Neon is able to track him whenever uses his powers, so he was forced to deal with Neon repeatedly.

Versus The Unexpected

Eventually, the Bad Samaritan finds a potential path to his goal. He makes a deal with Onimar Synn, who agrees to get him to the Dark in exchange for a source of Nth Metal to feed on: the Conflict Engine. Alden finds that the Engine has been fused to a person: a brawler calling herself Firebrand. Locating her at a hospital she was working at when not fighting, he tries to pry the Engine, which she needs to live, from her body. Before he can get the job done, Neon and his entourage arrive, drawn to Alden's use of his power. Despite the numbers disadvantage, Quench overpowers his enemies. As he fights, he comes up with a plan to get to the Dark Multiverse without Synn's help. He takes some of a wounded Neon's enhanced body matter, tosses it onto Firebrand, then hits her with Viking Judge's magic ax. The combination, pushed further by Alden's powers, jumpstarts the Conflict Engine, creating an explosion.[1] The detonation kills Quench himself and two of the Unexpected. The melding of powers also leaves behind an unstable Nth Metal isotope that Neon and Firebrand must contain.[2]

Later, Quench's remains are found on the Canada by a hiker, who is killed when Alden manages to restore his body. He then realizes that the Nth Metal isotope in Neon's care has opened Alden up to pinpoint Mandrakk's location.[3] He opens a portal to the source of the call, arriving in The Bleed near the barrier between and the Dark and Positive Multiverses to Mandrakk facing Neon, Firebrand, and Hawkman. After absorbing the freshly stabilized Nth Metal isotope, he decides to brawl with Neon, but Mandrakk incapacitates his nemesis first. Alden demands that Mandrakk silence his call, but his master flips on him, prompting Quench to fight Mandrakk. Going all in, Alden begins releasing enough Fire of Destruction to risk destroying both Multiverses, but he is overpowered and killed by Mandrakk before any serious destruction occurs.[4]

After dying, Alden's soul falls to the World Forge, where he will be consumed, but he's stopped by Neon, who let Mandrakk kill him so he could get Alden back. At first, Alden refuses to come back to life, but alden gets through to him, so he goes back with Neon for another round with Mandrakk. Even with help, Alden is no match for the Dark Monitor, but with the help of Hawkman and Firebrand, they manage to stall long enough for Neon to win the day, by changing Mandrakk from a positive matter vampire to a dark matter one. As Mandrakk is forced to return to the Dark Multiverse to survive, Alden prepares to leave, satisfied at the outcome. He is then forced to repay Neon for the help by getting him and his friends home. He returns them to Earth-0 before then leaving to take advantage of his new lease on life, agreeing to not destroy anything for a while.[5]

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