Because you can't stop me, that's why.
=====J=====
Bludhaven. A city grim and gritty as its stupid name implies. Imagine Gotham before Batman showed up, and you pretty much have the right idea. Sure, there are some differences (like a lack of gimp-suit wearing nut jobs with surprisingly good HR departments), but it's still terrible for the average person. And it was a city I had become unfortunately familiar with over the past few months.
It seemed like no matter how many times I tried to leave, I always got pulled back. And you learn things, when you're forced to live in the gutter of a city. Where to avoid, where you can scrounge for food… and where you can get certain services.
My motorcycle rolled to a stop in front of the building I was looking for, a non-descript apartment building by all appearances. Maybe a little rundown, but that hardly stood out in this neighborhood. You had to know where to look to notice the red, inverted triangle that was painted on part of the curb. I set my bike in park and dismounted, pausing as I looked up at the building. The early evening light framed the building in a sinister way, and not for the first time I wondered how my life had gotten to this point.
W̷͇̮̟͇̬̯ͤͬ̓͛́e̷̛̳̼̼̤̣̘̻̞̱̯̠̥͎͊͐́͒͆ͣ͒͌͌ͫ͟͠ ̊̔̐̒͑̍̏́͜͞͏͠҉̙̩̮̥̠a̵̧̛̲̘̖̳͍͖̘̲͈̰̱̜̙̗̯̰ͥ͑ͥ̽̿̾͊ͤ̀͝ļ̴̮͈̻̰̮͔̭̩̳̖͗̉̀ͬ̂̾l̾͑ͤ̂ͪ͒̉͂ͯ͂̇҉͏̖̥̭̲̩̗̯̮͖̩͕̟͔̥͓͕͠ ̧̰̹̱̙̬̟͍͇̾̏̔͗ͧ͊ͯ̂̓̽͐ͤ͛͗́ḩ̵̯̦͇̼̝͔̞̜̠̻͈̩̣̩̹̻̥̟ͪ͆ͤ̓ͪ͑̌̇͑́͒̈́̓̄̄͟͞a̬͕͉͉̱̫͎̖̲͙̗̤͖̺͚̣ͧ̅̽ͣͯ̃̑̇͊ͮ̎ͫ̑ͯ͌̽ͫ́͜ͅv̂̄ͧͪ́͐ͨ̈̑ͤ̈̀̏̋̏͋͢͏͔̤̜͕͇̼̱̲̫̺͢eͦ̉̅ͭͪ̃̓̌͐ͭ̎̾ͭ̓ͣ̉̔͐ͯ͏̛̜͔̥̥͇̠̟̳̖̦͇̯̩̀ ̸̅̍̂͒̎ͤ̿ͥ͏̶͏͕͇̞͙͇͖͎̮͉̝͖̘͍̕tͩ̌͛ͦ̅͛̄̽̓҉̴̷̢̖̫̩̖̮͍͓̫̻̯̙̖́ȯ̵͔̺̱͚̙͚̤̗̤̣͖̬͔̻͈̫̝͚̗̃̈́ͪ̇̿̅̔̆̏̚̚̕͝͝ ̒͑̄ͭ̅̚҉̷̧̢̺͔͇͕̝̯d̶̷̵̬̱̣̼̯͉͕̱̦̮̟̻̞͔̉̃̿ͨ̒͋̆ͤ̈́̉͗̈ͨͦ̎͒͜͞ȍ̉͋̉̆ͦ̏͊̌͐̑ͤ̉ͯ͒́̚҉̦̗͙̰̻͓̫͝ ̵ͩ́ͧ͂͐̅͌̌͗̏͂͗̒̃͊͏͏̡̤̬͖̹̳̱̬͍͙͜t̒͌̉̔̓̽ͩ̉̇͌̎͌͗̀͂̓̎̋ͥ҉̷͏̶̱̯̬͉̣̩͈̪̼̱͕ͅͅḥ̴̷̨͙̹̜͎̜̰ͨ́́ͥ͑͊̃́̚͘i̦̼̹͔̭̹͕͉͈͈̳̝̲̱͕͕̓̀̑̔̏́̕͞͡ş̨͙͇̳͓̮̼͔̻͍̜̟̬͖͔ͦ͒ͯ́̂̊̓̍ͥ̓ͬ̕ ̨͗̉ͫͫ̄̅̓ͪͯ̄̇̐ͤ̎ͫ͐͌̐҉͔̦͓͇̪̳͔͉̹̤̹̹̭̭̼̬s̴̶̷ͯ̓ͯ͊ͭ̈́̈҉̸͓̙͚̹͚̹̖̦̫̼͕̠̜̜͙͓o̢̒͂̃͐͊ͬ̆͗̏ͭ̎͗̊͘҉͓͙͇͚̞̻̥̰͖͎ͅȍ̸̶̝̘̻̥͉͆̐ͣ͑͑̃ͪͩ̅ͮ͂̉͐̀ͩ̔ͦ̕n̢̜̼̲̳̟̘̯̺̖̳͈͆ͬ̽͂ͣͯͨͣ̃̂́͠e̛̪̗̦͚̜͇̹̙̻̘͎̟̩͈͕͎͖̽̍̂̊ͣ̏ͥ̾́̀͢r̶̢̒͛ͦ͘͏̳̳̦̠͈͓͇̰̮̠̫̣ ͑̊̔ͤ̈̈́̌́̅̉ͩͬ͒̀́ͣͬ҉̷̢͈͇̱̤̘͔͖̩̺͠͝ͅo̸̵͊ͩͮ͂̔͑̀̿̏͌̀̎͋͗ͪ̌ͨ̓ͦ̕҉͎̟͎͎̯̻̮r͌̉̏ͪͮ̆͘҉̹̱̜͞ ̸̧̨̭͚̞̭͉ͤͦ͗͜l̡̛͑̂ͣͬ͂̂ͥ̏҉̷̡̟̟̝͍̩a̶̶̞̭̖͍̬̫̹̫̩̞̼̲̪̅̓̄ͩ͌́͟͞t͆̅ͥ̑̃̈̐ͣ̂̑̄̐̔ͯ̈ͮ̃̅ͩ҉̸̜̘̝̞̪͕̹̞̘̟̪̯͈̹̺̀͡͞e̛̩̳̯͔͈̱̭̟̳͖̟̱̋ͦͯ͐̋̓͌͌ͧͨ͗̏̅͠r̰͈͖̗͚̞̦͇̪̯ͮͬ̂̊̎̇͐̇̉ͮ͆̎̄̊̄ͫ͌ͥ͜͜-
Yeah, yeah.
Pulling my duster in close, I walked up the steps and through the front door. The lobby was simple, a reception desk to my right and a hallway with several doors in front of me. The lady behind the desk, a middle aged woman with far too much make-up on, regarded my with a flat stare. "Can I help you, honey?"
I shuffled up to the counter, glancing behind me before I mumbled "Yeah, I uh… I'm here looking for a good time. Oh right, uh, 'Harvest Moon'."
She gave me a smile with pressed lips, and I saw her hand move to press a button under counter. I waited for a few moments before a man walked out from a door at the end of the hall, hustling over to me. He was a slightly portly man in a button up shirt, and he gave me a slimy grin as he approached. "Hey there, name's Aaron. Looking for some tail, huh?"
"Yeah," I said. "I've been driftin' for a while now. I need to unwind."
"Alright, alight," the man said, looking me up and down with a critical eye. "You got the cash for it? Cause we're a little more upscale than your average streetwalker."
I glanced left and right before reaching into my pocket and taking out a wad of bills. I gave the man a good look before I put them back in my pocket. "Now, can-"
"Hold up." Aaron said, his expression unchanged. "How'd you know about us?"
I rolled my eyes, not wanting to deal with this. "I've been in this city a lot, ok? I know who to ask for this sort of thing. You guys are new, but there's a lot of talk about the Crimson Syndicate. A lot of rumors." I hesitated, and shuffled my feet. "You, uh, you're not actually vampires, right?"
Aaron chuckled, his tension fading. "I wish. Just between you and me, I think the higher ups like those rumors. Keeps the competition on their toes."
"Right. Whatever, can I see the girls now? Where are they anyway, you keep them locked away at the top of the tower or something?"
"Nah, first and second floor." He waved me to follow him. "I'll get you the catalog."
"Hold up," I said, and he turned to look back at me. "You got any place… secure? I need a room that's private. A room where I know it's just me and her."
"Buddy, I don't know what you think-"
"Look," I interrupted. "I just… I'm sick of getting shit end of the stick all the time. I need to make someone else feel it. I need a space where I can do that. I… need
control, alright."
Aaron raised his eyebrows and stared at me for a long moment, before that slimy grin came back. "Ah, that's what you're lookin' for. Yeah, I think I can hook you up. Follow me."
I walked after him, and we walked past the door he had come from and down a side corridor. We came to an inconspicuous door that was made slightly less inconspicuous by the pair of large men standing guard near it. They were both in vests and suit pants, one with light hair and one with dark. Aaron leaned in close and whispered something into the blonde's ear, and the man nodded. The guard unlocked the door, and we all traveled down the staircase into darkness. As we walked, I glanced at the back of the goons necks, seeing the tattoos of the inverted triangle placed there.
Soon enough we reached another door at the bottom of the stairs, and our small group walked into a spacious basement. Almost the entire space was bare concrete, though there were some pieces of 'furniture' clearly meant for constraining people in specific positions. There were chains affixed to parts of the walls and floor, and I couldn't help but notice the slightly red drain in the floor.
I walked forward and passed the other men, taking stock of the contents of the room and my surroundings. "It's a bit big," I commented, my eye flickering towards thee one piece of furniture covered by a sheet before I turned back to Aaron. "You have parties in here?"
"For certain clients," Aaron said as he moved closer. His grin turned sadistic, and with an unhealthy interest he started to ask "So, let's get started on the
details-"
Suddenly, there was a series of loud crashes from above us, and it felt like the entire building shook just a little. Aaron looked up in confusion. "The hell?" he muttered before he looked at one of the guards. "Check that out."
The big man pulled out a walkie talkie and pressed the button. "What's going on up there?" A few moments of silence. No response, only static. "Hey Mick, you there?" Still static. He looked back at Aaron. "I don't think its working."
Aaron looked irate and made to yell something, but stopped when a new noise reached us: a cacophony of high pitched squeaks. A moment later a swarm of bats poured from a nearby vent, swirling around the room before the coalesced at a point in front of us. The black mass of their bodies fused together, and in an instant there was a man standing there. He was very pale, and he wore a formal suit that was a little behind the times. His dark hair had grey at the temples, and his sharp features gave him a severe look.
But his dead, crimson eyes were what drew the most attention. "Mr. Rodriguez," he said in a flat tone. "Did you order the closing of the emergency daylight blinds?"
"M-Mr. Williams," Aaron took a moment to compose himself. "No. I don't what's going on. We tried to contact the hub but-"
"Communications are down." The man finished for him. "The building is on lock down, but no one gave the order it, would seem." His gaze flickered to me. "Who is this?"
"A customer. A drifter." Aaron said, putting a particular emphasis on that last part.
The pale man stared at me for a moment longer before he looked back at the other man. "Handle it, then find out what's happening." With that, he transformed back into bats and exited the same way he came.
I stared at the vent, before flicking my eyes around to see if there were any other small entrances to the basement. "…I thought you said you didn't have any vampires."
"You know what, I'm not dealing with you right now."
The man was faster than I expected, and in a smooth motion drew a stubby revolver from his waist band and put two rounds into my torso. Burning pain laced my insides as I collapsed to my hands and knees, my blood dripping onto the ground.
Aaron sighed in irritation, gun dropping to his side as he address one of the goons. "Hook him up to the exsanginator and leave him, we need to find out what the hell is going on."
"Alright, but Jerry ain't here tonight. If we leave the machine on auto, the guys upstairs say the blood is-"
"I don't give a fuck." Aaron snapped. "We have bigger shit to deal with right now. If one of those monsters complains that his drink got sour, we'll blame it on the refrigerator."
A wheezing chuckle filled the dim basement, and the three men turned to look at me. "Monsters…" I muttered. "You say that like you aren't one of them."
"Oh what the fuck would you know, gutter trash?" Aaron shot back before he looked back at the dark haired man. "Seriously, get him in the damn machine already, I'm not wasting another bullet."
The goon moved towards me, but before he touched me I said "You killed a kid, once."
The man froze, his eyes going wide. "W-what?"
"You didn't mean to. Crossfire, I'm guessing." I continued to chuckle, slowly pulling myself to my feet.
The blood that was dripping from my chest was starting to steam.
I raised a hand and pointed at the other thug. "You take from the needy, when you feel like it. A callous indifference to the less fortunate. But, I guess while you might be bad guys, you're not really monsters."
A burning heat built in my chest, having nothing to do with the pain I felt.
Aaron's face twisted. "Am I supposed to be impressed by this little parlor trick? So what, everyone in this city has a little dirt under their fingernails. You probably just made a lucky guess."
My gaze locked onto his, my head tilting slightly. "You though, oh you're another story. You enjoy dominating others, the suffering they feel as they're helpless to stop you. These two might have fallen in with a bad crowd, but you couldn't throw yourself in fast enough. You're the real scum here."
Thin whips of steam started to pour from my body, and my skin felt dry and cracked.
I continued. "But more than that, you're a coward. It drives you, even when you're trying to assert control. It's why you joined up with big monsters, so they could protect you. It's why you watch the shadows, even as you push someone's face into the dirt." My voice lowered to a near whisper. "It's why you lock the door behind you when you go into your daughter's bedroom-"
Aaron emptied the rest of his revolver at me. I shook, but whether it was from the impacts of the dark laughter trying to work its way out of my throat. "Kill him! Kill him right the fuck now!" He screamed hysterically.
The goons hesitated for a moment, but the blonde one came at me first, charging and swinging a meaty fist at my head. My own hand came up and simply caught the first, the much larger man's momentum stopping dead. He didn't have long to be surprised before I stepped back and pulled, throwing him clear across the room to slam into the concrete wall.
At this point, my whole body had started to smoke, a whips of it leaking from my open mouth.
I turned back in time for the other man to smash a pipe across my face. He drew it back again for another strike, but he froze in shock as I turned my head to face him. The crowbar had caused my already weakened skin to crumble away, and half of my jaw bone was exposed to air. Flames and sparks poured around the bone, slowly eating away at the rest of my flesh.
My fist came up and smashed into his sternum with enough force to lift him off the ground and slam him into the basement's ceiling. He crashed back down the ground unmoving.
Aaron turned and ran, trying to make it to the door. In response I opened up my duster and pulled out the long length of chain.
Because some things were just tradition.
The chain lashed out and wrapped itself around Aaron's legs, causing him to pitch forward and slam onto his face. I dragged him back towards me and he flipped over to frantically free himself from the chains. And he became even more frantic as he saw my eyes burn to ash in my sockets, leaving a pair of burning hollow pits. It was actually quite painful to do it this slowly, but I was in something of a mood at the moment. And the sight of me burning up was having the desired effect.
"W-what are you?!" the man screamed as he reached my feet.
I grabbed him by the throat and hauled him up to eye level, the flames consuming the rest of my flesh. All the remained was my skull wreathed in a halo of fire, and the burning red points that stared into Aaron's terrified eyes. "
Something that fell off the wrong side of the Amalgam truck."
Power built within my skull, and I knew that the embers that were my eyes had turned into burning torrents. "
Aaron Rodriguez… Burn for your sins!"
He screamed, flames pouring from his eyes in turn as he felt every last bit of pain and suffering he had ever inflicted on another person. He writhed in my grasp, trying to escape from both me and his self-caused torture, but failing to do either. After several long seconds he ran out of air and his thrashing stopped, his eyes no longer burning but vacant. I let him go, and he crumpled to the ground.
Everything was silent in the basement, save for the light sizzle coming from the body at my feet. I reached into one of my pockets and pulled out a radio, clipping it to my front. "
This is Bone Daddy. I'm in."
"
For the last goddamn time, I refuse to call you that." A female voice said on the other end.
"
You never let me have fun!" I yelled back, trying to ignore the overwhelming feeling of catharsis and keep my tone upbeat. Still, I continued with "
Is everything locked down?"
"
Yeah," heard a pair of gunshots over the radio before she resumed talking. "
No getting in or out. You find a secure spot?"
I picked up one of the nearby 'tables' and hurled it at the vent in the far wall. It impacted with such force that it imbedded itself in the concrete, covering the opening completely. "
Yeah, the basement." I confirmed. "
Send every civilian you find down here."
She grunted. "
Out of the way, but it'll have to do. I'm on the top floor. I work my way down, you work your way up."
"
And we'll meet in the middle," I confirmed, walking out of the basement. When the woman at the front desk saw me round the corner, her jaw dropped open and she became very pale. I didn't break my stride, but as I walked past her I said "
Find every girl you can, get them into the basement now. Things are about to get violent." She didn't move a muscle, so I sighed and started doing it myself. I suppose she hadn't been expecting anything like this today.
Then again, I certainly hadn't been expecting anything like this, all those months ago. One moment I was walking onto the subway, the next I was walking out of an alleyway in a city I had thought was fictitious. I didn't have long to dwell on that though, because only ten minutes later I was shot in the crossfire of a sudden gang shootout. I lay there dying, begging the open air for someone to help me… and I got it, in exchange for vengeance to be paid. I had kinda been hoping for Superman, though.
And this was the DC universe, in spite of who I was playing host to. There was Metropolis, Gotham, the Justice League, all of that. But apparently,
something happened 13 years ago. Things just started appearing, things that never came from this universe. At the same time, things sometimes went missing from this universe as well, gone without a trace. People had all kinds of theories, called them Anomalies, but no one had any solid leads as to what the hell was happening,
But I did. Or at least, I suspected when I saw an image of Superman holding Captain America's shield on the news. Things were flowing between this universe and a Marvel universe. And given that the Spirit of Vengeance had vague memories of being bound to one Wally West, I could only assume that an Amalgam event took place. But, why were things still so muddled? And where the hell was Access?
After finally shepherding (or at least scaring them in the right direction) all of the people I could find on the first floor to the basement, I moved up the stairs to the second floor. I started to move to the nearest set of rooms, but the elevator at the end of the hall opened. Three men stepped out, two dressed in vests and slacks, and the third in a full suit. The last man was unnaturally pale, and unlike the other two he didn't flinch when he laid his red eyes on me. He swept his long dark hair back before he said "Kill him."
Had I eyebrows I would have raised one, and the goons who looked back at the speaker seemed to share my sentiment. The quick glare they got from him though showed they feared him more than me, as a moment later they charged me with drawn knives. Predictably, it didn't go well for them. I stepped forward and grabbed both of them when they got into range, hoisting them up and smashing them together. They crumpled to the floor.
I was suddenly rocked back by a series of heavy impacts. The man at the end of the hall had pulled out a pair of, if my eyes weren't deceiving me, .50 caliber pistols, and started unloading their entire magazines at me. His face was pulled in a sharp tooth grin as each bullet rocked me back a little. Eventually though, he ran out of ammo, and his eyes went wide as I stood straight. "
How cute," I said, reaching for the holstered machine pistol at my hip. "
Wanna see some real firepower?"
I knew that Ghost Riders had a bunch of different powers, or at least different Ghost Riders had different powers. For me, my power set was on the shorter side. I had the Penance Stare, and I could sense the sins of the people around me. But the one thing I was really good at…
As I pulled the gun from the holster, hellfire crept over the weapon, and the metal of its frame became twisted and engraved with demonic markings. A spike extended from the base of the magazine, and the iron sights on the tip of the barrel curved into horns. The bullets I fired a moment later blazed through the air, imbued with the same Fires of Perdition. Each one that struck the vampire's body exploded in flames, and he was nearly torn to bits before he simply disintegrated.
Hellfire infusion. The same power that gave life to my Ride I could use to empower objects, weapons, anything. Basically, it's kind of like King Midas, except that everything I touch becomes metal as fuck.
I kept the pistol in one hand and my chains in the other as I stalked through the rest of the floor, again shepherding every prostitute I could find down towards the basement (and yes, that is the term I will continue to use). I had expected a bit more resistance by this point, but judging by the sounds of combat above me, my partner was currently drawing most of the attention.
I finished and hustled up to the third floor. There wouldn't be any more innocents from here on up, and sure enough the hallways and doors looked a lot starker. Kicking doors down proved that most of the apartments were empty as well.
My ability to sense the sin of people around me worked best when I had line of sight to the person, but I still had a general impression of it if someone with ample amounts of damnation was in close proximity. As such, I wasn't too surprised when a lithe form burst through the wall next to me, claws and fangs bared as she carried me through the opposite wall. Instinctively, hellfire surged through my longcoat, and I heard the vampire's flesh sizzle. I head a scream and by the time I hit the floor the vampire was gone.
I knew I hadn't managed to disintegrate the thing, so I grumbled and pulled myself to my feet. Sensing the source of sin moving around me, I carefully move back into the hall, gun and chain ready. "
Hey, you got any tips for fighting vampires?" I asked over the radio.
"
I don't know, shoot them until their paste." She replied. "
Haven't you been at this longer than me?"
"…
Not really. This whole gig is kind of new to me." I sensed a second source of sin approaching rapidly from my left, so I lashed my gun hand out and fired of a few shots through the wall. I heard a hiss, but I felt the vampire change direction.
"
Really? Huh, I just kind of assumed you were always a burning skeleton man."
"
Well, I wasn't." I came to T junction in the hallway. I looked to my left, purposely not looking at the vampire clinging to the ceiling up and to the right of me. The moment she launched herself at me, my hellfire infused chains swung at her, wrapping tight around her body and slamming her into the floor. "
Were you always…" I trailed off as I tried to think of what to say.
"
Amazing? Competent? Deadly? Pretty much." An explosion sounded over the radio, and I felt the building rumble slightly. There was a long moment of silence before she spoke again. "
The monster hunting thing…. That's new. I woke up one morning with a bloody rock on my night stand I have no idea about, and suddenly able to sense monsters in a five mile radius. I wasn't planning to do anything about it, but it's fucking impossible to get some sleep with these bloodsuckers around."
I was a little surprised at her opening up now of all times. Then again, our relationship had always been an odd thing. I first met her shortly after I became Ghost Rider, the two of us running into one another as we both went after the same coven of Witches. Originally it had been an alliance of convenience, before it just became an alliance. And at some point, it became something convenient.
The vampire wrapped in chains screamed as hellfire burned into her. The second one chose this moment to burst into the hall from the opposite direction and rush me down, trying to save his companion. I tightened my grip on the chain and pulled, swing around the restrained vampire like a flail into the charging vampire. There was a burst of hellfire on impact and both disintegrated.
Ok, third floor done. I looked at the ceiling above me, feeling the sin of the thing moving one floor up. I hesitated for a moment, and when it was almost right above me I poured hellfire into my chain and lanced it straight up through the ceiling. I felt the end wrap around something and pulled, and I was rewarded by a pair of legs crashing through the ceiling to dangle in the air.
Had I the lips for it, I would have frowned. "
Get over here!" I roared and pulled again, bringing the vampire all the way through and smashing him into the floor with a sickening crash. I walked over to him as he tried to pull himself to himself to his hands and knees. Hellfire played over my boots, turning them into vicious footwear of black leather and pointed metal before it came down on his head. There was a burst of flame at the moment of impact and his body disintegrated.
I briefly wondered if all vampires did that on death or it had something to do with my own powers before I looked up at the hole I had made in the ceiling. I jumped up through it, my machine pistol firing at the vampires who had hung around the hole to see what the hell was going on. I didn't hit all of them, but two went down and the other two reeled back in shock from the sight of me. They didn't last much longer, and my burning chain lashed out and burned them to ashes a moment later.
The fourth floor was much like the previous ones except that at the end of the hall I saw a pair of nice double doors. I remembered from planning this assault out with my partner that the biggest space in the building was a corner office on this floor. And if I knew her capabilities, she was either already there or about to be there soon. Not wanting to be late and look like a chump in front of her, I hustled down the hall and simply shoulder checked my way through.
The room… wasn't what I was expecting, at least for being in a low end apartment building. It was large room, tall enough to take up two floors and was something between an antechamber and a rec-room. The wall on my left was lined with windows, though there were all blocked by dark metal shutters. A set of spiraling stairs lead up to a small balcony on the opposite side of the room from where I entered, and I saw another set of doors just past it.
I took three steps into the antechamber before security shutters slammed down over the door at both ends of the room. The lights cut out and plunged the rom into darkness. Well, not really, as I was still a burning torch of a man. And it's not like darkness was a problem for me either way. "
Really?" I asked as I looked up at the balcony above. "
Do you really think I'm bothered by the dark?"
Though the space had been empty a moment before, standing on the balcony was the vampire I had seen in the basement. He looked at me dispassionately before giving a slight shrug of his shoulders. "Perhaps not, but I find it comforting." He drew a wicked looking knife from his side… before he looked between it and me with a frown. "I had heard rumors, but I hadn't actually thought you were real." He said, tossing the knife and taking out what looked like a metal tonfa.
"
I'm not big on advertising," I replied, unwinding my chain from my arm. "
Tends to make my job easier when they don't know to run away." I brought my weapons up. "
Saves me the trouble of running them down."
Williams hummed and leaned forward. "Well then… let's see who runs faster."
In a blur, he was gone, and the next thing I knew I felt him right behind me. I turned to lash out with my chain, but he was already smashing the tonfa into my back. I stumbled as I turned, and Williams moved with me, striking across my face. I allowed myself to be thrown back, hitting the ground and rolling back onto my feet. I raised my machine pistol and fired back at him.
Again, Williams was a blur as he weaved between the burning bullets. He closed the distance in an instant and smashed the pistol out of my hand, the weapon losing its luster as it flew into the darkness. The vampire wasted no time in raining a series of blows down onto me. I tried to block his strikes, but he suddenly went low and swept my legs out from under me. Williams was pure speed as I hung in the air, fast enough to stand back up and axe kick me with sufficient force to crater the floor.
Celerity. Damn it, I thought. While on my back I saw the vampire leap into the air, no doubt intending to smash me even further into the floor. Guess I had to step things up a bit.
I felt hellfire burn within me, and my chain blazed to life. It spiraled around me as I moved into a spinning kip up, which then launched me upwards into a spinning cannon spike at the descending vampire, much to his surprise. He twisted awkwardly in the air, so that when I impacted him he was sent spiraling off to the side. We both landed, and Williams managed to tear off his burning suit jacket just before I rushed him down. He jumped back out of the way as my chain tore through the space he just was, and was forced to keep moving back as I kept the pressure up. I may not have been quite as fast as him, but he was certainly surprised that I had started to keep up with his speed.
It wasn't clear how much, but Zarathos
remembered. He remember what it was like to be Speed Demon. And the memory of a Spirit of Vengeance was enough to make me a lot more agile than I rightfully should have been. It was hard as hell to control though, and I had to take care with every move I made to not fling myself across the room.
Gouges and flames tore up the room as we threw ourselves at each other, each of us trying to maneuver into an advantageous position. I repeatedly tried to ensnare him in my chains and anchor him, but even at my fastest I couldn't quite pin him down. Likewise, Williams kept darting in and hitting me with glancing blows, but he couldn't wear me down. It would take more than a mundane piece of metal to damage a Ghost Rider, after all. I was pretty sure that I would outlast him eventually, but I had no idea how long that would take, and the longer this went on the more likely he would get creative. So, I decided to get creative first.
My chain blazed with flame as I spun it in a wide circle, moving across the room in a sweeping motion. Williams was able to step back out of the way, but my goal was to stop him from seeing what I was doing. As I spun, I reached into my long coat and tossed out a dozen short metal cylinders, scattering them in a radius around me. I came to a stop in the middle of the room, reeling my chain back in and settling into a deep stance. My gaze locked with Williams, and for a long moment neither of us moved. Eventually, his patience broke, and came at me in a burst of speed.
Hellfire poured through my feet spreading outward in a low ring around me. Williams charged in regardless, clearly feeling that he could power through it to get to me. And he could… because he wasn't my target. As the hellfire spread through the floor, it reached the cylinders I had thrown all over the ground, shifting them so that they pointed at my approaching enemy. With an effort of will, the collapsible pikes released, hellfire turning them into serrated spears as they lanced into William's body.
He only got to scream for a moment before fire consumed him and the vampire was gone. I let out a breath and straightened. "
And another one bites the dust." I felt a slight rumble of dissatisfaction within me, and I scoffed. "
Shut up, I make good one liners."
I then hustled up the stairs to the main office and entered, and I wasn't entirely surprised by what I saw. The office had a hole in the roof, and a headless body slumped over a massive mahogany desk. The head was close to my feet, and I recognized it as our primary target for this outing, the vampire in charge of the Crimson Syndicate (I guess the disintegration thing was because of hellfire).
I looked towards the one responsible, who was current sitting slouched on the desk. She was dressed in a black longcoat covering an orange body suit, a number of utility pouches around her waist and across her chest. The black thigh-highs may have seemed a bit much, but they did match with the choker holding a blood red stone at her neck. Her white hair was held back in ponytail, and her left eye was covered by an eyepatch.
Shotgun slung over her shoulder, Rose 'Bloodstone' Wilson glared at me with her visible eye. "You're late, chump."
Ah hell.
=====J=====
Yeah... not entirely sure where this came from. I think it's because while I like the DC universe better than Marvel, I still like a lot of stuff from the latter. So here's Ghost Rider hanging out with Ravager, except she's also Elsa Bloodstone from Nextwave. The story would likely be a love letter to all of the terrible and awesome stuff from the Dark Age of comics.
